Seeing Red
by twerkformemes
Summary: For as long as Takeo could remember, it was him against the world, but with the emergence of new faces and even newer ideologies, he finds out that the line between right and wrong isn't as clearcut as he once believed. [OC]
1. I

**Chapter I - "It was supposed to be another day."**

**Republic City**

**170 AG**

* * *

Do you want to know the most annoying thing about living in one of the cheapest apartment buildings in Republic City? The way the sun seeps through the cracks of the cheaply built windows at dawn. It happened every morning, but this morning in particular was one that had pissed me off to no end. I wasn't sure if it was because I had pulled a double shift at Liang's Diner the previous night or if it was because I hadn't really been sleeping well, but either way it was something that had put me in a really bad mood.

I looked up at the ceiling and lay still for several minutes, hoping that the lack of movement would help me fall asleep again. Eventually, after laying still for several minutes, I realized that I wasn't going to get any more sleep no matter how hard I tried, so I swung my legs over my bed and walked towards the rusty old mirror that I kept in the corner of the room. It was my Grandma's, and it had seen better days, that was for sure.

Hell, the same thing could've been said about me.

It wasn't that long ago that I'd been living comfortably with Gran-Gran, in a small, but clean apartment in the heart of Republic City.

I still wasn't sure why, but she had taken me in when I was still a little kid. She took care of me, made sure I went to school, you know, all the basic stuff that adults are supposed to do. She wasn't the most affectionate woman in the world and wasn't really one to show emotion, but I knew deep down that she would always be there for me, no matter what.

That was until she had gotten sick.

I didn't really absorb what the healer had said when she visited, but she gave Gran-Gran's illness some kind of fancy name that up to this day, I can't remember. In fact, I don't really remember much from that time. Spirits knows I was barely home to remember the details.

After Gran-Gran had gotten sick, I was the one that started looking after her. I ended up trying to juggle school and eventually got a job in one of the industrial steel mills close to where we lived. They were looking for able bodies and they didn't really ask too many questions, so it was perfect for the time being. I didn't make a lot and the hours weren't great, but it was enough to put food on the table and pay for the medicine and check-ups that my Grandmother needed.

I kept that up for about a year until Gran-Gran passed. I don't really remember much about that time either. I think that was my brain's way of shielding me from the grief, but hey, I wasn't complaining. I didn't like to think about it anyway, especially after seeing how badly Gran-Gran had deteriorated.

It was like she had transformed overnight. One day, she was the happy, healthy and strong woman I knew, and the next, it was like I was practically living with a corpse. A shell of the person she once was.

In a way, I was glad she wasn't suffering anymore.

That was a little over three years ago, and after the first few months or so, I had ended up on the street, barely getting by with the emergency money that I had left. The money I had been getting from the steel mill just wasn't enough to cover the cost of the rent and eventually I had to leave. The landlord was kind enough to let me stay for the first couple of months rent free, but as he put it, he had "a family to feed too."

As circumstances would have it, I had ended up getting myself into trouble more times than I could count, and eventually I had taken it upon myself to join up with the Triple Threat Triads.

Although I had refused to take part in the more _violent _activities the Triple Threats liked to get involved in, I did find myself running numbers for them whenever I could and pocketing some of the change for my _troubles. _Of course, that didn't come without its consequences. I was only about 16 at the time, but I had been in and out of jail so frequently that I had ended up with the honor of getting to know the esteemed Chief of Police, Lin Beifong, daughter of the war hero, Toph Beifong.

Thinking about it ,she was never too impressed whenever they would book me in. She would always give me this _look _that would simultaneously make me feel bad and scare the shit out of me.

It wasn't until after a year later and multiple two day stints in jail, when I had gotten jumped by a rival gang that I decided that the life of running numbers and dodging gangbangers wasn't for me. Who knew what kind of target I had on my back? Who knew what would happen the next time I _looked_ at somebody the wrong way?

After deciding that enough was enough, I packed what little I had and never looked back. It took me awhile, but I eventually found a job as a dishwasher at Liang's Diner - a little restaurant famous for it's dumplings and noodles. Personally, I thought the dumplings were a little too salty, but that was an opinion I liked to keep to myself, since the place sort of had its own little cult following. It didn't pay much and I absolutely hated it, but it kept me fed, out of Beifong's jail cell and with a roof over my head, so I couldn't really complain.

I looked at myself in the mirror and ran my fingers through the little bit of hair that I had. I had opted for a buzzcut only a few days before, since having it longer was practically unbearable whenever I worked in the kitchen. So much so that I would practically come home soaked in sweat.

Gross, I know.

Just as I began to reach for the small brush on my dresser, I felt a drop of cold water run down my back. I looked up at the ceiling and realized that it was leaking _again. _I shook my head, sighed and placed the metal bucket Jing, the landlord, had given me underneath the dripping ceiling. I was going to have find Jing and talk to him about that.

After freshening up, and getting myself ready for the day, I made my way to the downstairs lobby where I was more than certain I would find Jing smoking one of his disgusting cigars. Those things smelled like death...and garbage. The man was a slob and I hated him, but there wasn't much I could say or do, since the guy was my landlord and practically held my entire life in his chubby little hands.

"Rent's due on the 5th, Takeo." Jing said, as I passed by him on my way out of the building. He blew a puff of smoke in my direction, making me cough. Man, that thing smelled _awful. _

"I know," I said, a little rougher than I had intended. It wasn't like I needed his reminders. I always paid my rent on time.

Usually.

Sometimes.

Jing smiled at me, and blew out another puff of smoke.

"It was just a friendly reminder, bud." He said, making me frown. I wasn't sure if he was doing the nice guy act on purpose to be an asshole, or if it was just me waking up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, but I really was not in the mood for his bullshit.

"The ceiling's leaking. Just a friendly reminder, _bud_." I retorted sarcastically, making Jing put down his cigar and get up from his chair. He moved closer to me and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

"You can always take ya' shit and leave ya' know. I can't tell ya' how many people I have lined up for a place like this. You sass me one more time and yer' outta here, ya' hear me?" Jing said.

I seriously doubted that Jing had people "lining up" for a place in this dump of a building, in this dump of a city, but seeing that I was already on thin ice with the guy, I kept quiet and nodded my head just so that he would go away. Eventually after seeing that I had backed down, he let go of my collar and stalked off somewhere.

It was only around 10 in the morning, but the sun had already started to beat down on the city, and I could already feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I could already tell that it was going to be one of the hotter days of the year, so far. It was only the middle of spring but it seemed like with every passing day, the weather had kept improving. If it stayed like this, I was sure that we were going to have one hell of a summer- something that didn't really happen here in Republic City. Being on the coast, our weather was usually a little milder and _rainier_, so to have a little heat was something that I wasn't going to complain about.

I was also glad that my day off had fallen on a nice day, and as I walked out of my apartment building and down 5th Avenue I began planning out how I would spend it. I figured I could take a walk 'round Republic City Park, maybe feed some of the Turtle Ducks in the pond and then after that I could-

"Help! Please!" Came a voice from across the street.

"Shut up!" Said another, almost immediately.

I looked over at the commotion and spotted where the voice or _voices _had come from. There were three men surrounding an elderly man who had a phonograph in his hand. If I wasn't mistaken, those guys were definitely Triple Threats.

Fancy clothing, that bordered on tacky? Check.

Terrible haircuts? Check.

Vaguely threatening? Check.

They were Triads alright. I looked over at the old man once again, and then I looked down the street. I mean, I didn't _have _to step in. If I wanted to, I could continue on and pretend like I hadn't seen anything. I could just go about my business and enjoy my one day off for the week.

But of course, that's not what I did.

Damn me, and my moral compass.

I looked over at the man surrounded by the group of triads and weighed my odds.

_I'm not a bender. _I thought. _If these guys wanted to, they could mess me up pretty badly. _I looked over at the elderly man for a third time, and without thinking, I jogged over to the group and placed myself between the man and the three Triads.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked. The tallest man of the group looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Mr. Chung, here, owes us some money. We're only here to collect what he owes," The man said, lighting a flame in the palm of his hand. Even though he was in the process of threatening me with the fireball he had just lit in his palm, I couldn't help but notice how _wispy _his mustache was.

It was a little pathetic, actually. It just seemed to be hanging there for dear life, kind of like it was-

"Hey, kid! Did you hear me? Or am I going to have to beat the wax out of yer' ears?" Wispy 'Stache said, jolting me out of my thoughts. I chuckled nervously and did my best to calm him down. I could already tell that he was one of those jumpy Triads that liked to bend at anything that _moved. _

"That won't be necessary, sir. How about we leave this poor old man alone and we all go about our business? I mean, it _is _a wonderful day today. I'm sure you wouldn't want to ruin it by hurting Mr. Fung here." I said, patting the old man on his shoulder, who immediately swatted my hand off and glared at me.

"My name is Chung!" The man said, probably less than impressed that I had called him by the wrong name.

Jeez. You call a person that you're trying to help the wrong name and they get all grouchy. I should've kept walking.

The Triads, however, also looked less than impressed and after a few seconds, the three of them had gotten into their respective bending stances.

If you hadn't guessed already, it was at that moment where I had _really _regretted stopping.

It wasn't enough that I was outnumbered three to one, but they _all _were benders too? I was counting on Wispy 'Stache being the only bender, not his buddies as well! That was just the icing on the Lychee cake.

After a moment of trying to collect myself, I decided to stand my ground all while trying to do my best to hide my growing nervousness.

"Look, fellas. You do know that extortion is against the law, right?" I said, eyeing the biggest one of the group in particular. He was definitely an Earthbender. The guy was basically a mountain in human form. His arms were massive. He probably could've squished my head like a grape if he wanted to.

Not that I would give him the chance, of course.

I liked my head the way it was, thank you very much.

"He owes us money." The mountain, sorry, Earthbender said, taking a step forward. I too, took a step forward and looked up at him. Now, I was a fairly tall guy, but this guy made me feel like a spider-fly in comparison.

"You should probably leave this poor man and his business alone or else." I continued, wondering where this newfound bravery had come from. Wispy 'Stache looked at me and then back at his friends with the cheesiest grin I had ever seen, making me want punch the grin and his stupid mustache off of his face.

"Can you believe this guy? Threatening me?" He said, making his friends chuckle. "Hey, Dah, tell im' what happened to the last guy that threatened me." He said, looking at the large Earthbender.

Dah scratched his head and looked like he was racking his brain trying to remember what his buddy was talking about.

"Uh, are you talking about that clown that almost ran you over with his Sato Scooter last week or-" Dah began, making Wispy 'Stache turn redder than the jacket he was wearing.

"Nevermind!" The man yelled. I shook my head, and did my best to suppress a laugh. These guys were idiots! How they had managed to dress themselves this morning, had me scratching my head in bewilderment.

"So, are you gonna try and beat me up or what? I don't have time for this." I said, crossing my arms and banking on the fact that I could catch their bluff or at least stall until someone had called the cops. Wispy 'Stache stepped closer to me, and held his palm filled with fire dangerously close to my face.

"Kid, you better get the fuck out of our way or else I'm gonna-"

"Or else what, hoodlum?" Yelled a voice from behind the three triads.

_Hoodlum_? I thought. _Nobody says hoodlum anymore. Well, unless you're over the age of 75._

I peered over the shoulders of the three men and watched in amusement as they too spun around to see who was there. My eyebrows raised in shock when I saw exactly _who_ it was.

It was a girl around my age, and judging by her clothes and her accent she was definitely _not _from Republic City. If I had to guess she was probably from one of the Water Tribes. From my time living among the very diverse population of Republic City, I had noticed that the people from the WaterTribes, the Southern Tribe in particular, tended to have a softer accent compared to the harsher one of the City. It wasn't terribly different, but it was noticeable if you listened closely enough.

It wasn't until I had taken a good look at the girl standing in front of us that I had noticed the smirk on her face. It was the cockiest smirk I had ever seen, and trust me, I had seen _a lot. _

_Who is this girl and does she have a death wish? _I wondered, but before I had time to contemplate that thought, the three gang members began to laugh uproariously, making me cringe. Sure, the girl was in way over her head, but she didn't deserve to get laughed at like that. After several moments of taking the time to collect themselves, Wispy 'Stache spoke up.

"Since you're obviously fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple things. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you and your vigilante friend here in the hospital." The man said, pointing back at me.

Vigilante? That was new and unexpected, but I kind of liked it. It had a ring to it.

Takeo, the Vigilante. That was _definitely _something I could get used to hearing.

The girl, however, didn't seem phased at all. She was obviously extremely confident or extremely cocky. I looked at her again. Only this time, her arms were folded.

Yep, she was definitely cocky.

Still unfazed by Wispy Stache's threats, the girl stepped forward and cracked her knuckles. She glanced at me for a second and then focused on the three triads again.

"You're the only ones who are gonna need a hospital. And for your sake, I hope there's one nearby," She said, with a smile on her face.

"Who do you think you are?" Wispy 'Stache asked, obviously getting fed up with this girl's games.

"Why don't you come and find out?" The girl replied, rubbing her hands together, almost as if she was enjoying their back and forth. Deciding that enough was enough and this was getting out of hand, I stepped forward and stood in between the girl and the three gang members.

"Whoa, guys! I really don't think this is necessary!" I said, trying be the mediator. "How about we just forget all this happened and go our separate-GAH."

I barely had time to duck before a large fireball flew past my head. What was it with these guys and aiming for the head? Wispy 'Stache threw another ball of fire at me, missing me again as I rolled out of the way. I was at a serious disadvantage being a non-bender but I made up for it with my hand to hand combat skills.

Well, kind of.

I didn't really have a technique or a fighting style or anything. I mostly just winged it and hoped for the best.

It worked about 60% of the time.

On a good day.

As I rolled away from Wispy 'Stache's attack, I caught a glimpse of the girl taking on the other two Triads. From where I was, it looked like she had frozen the Waterbender's face in some kind of ice...thing, which made him stumble. After letting him stumble for awhile, she raised her foot and kicked him against a Sato Mobile with probably one of the hardest kicks I had ever seen in my life.

He was gonna have a serious headache tomorrow.

Obviously not too happy with her giving his friend a concussion, the Earthbender rushed her as fast as he could, only to be catapulted into the sky and out of sight.

_Wait, what?_

I didn't get time to finish that thought as Wispy 'Stache attacked me again, this time with several balls of fire being thrown at me in rapid succession. I jumped out of the way again, this time getting closer to him so I could land a punch straight to his 'noggin.

But of course, that's not what happened.

Why did I think things would go my way? Not only did my fist _not _connect, I felt a gust of wind leave my hands and I watched as Wispy 'Stache ended up crashing head first into a nearby Sato Mobile. The thought that _air_ had just come out of my fist hadn't even crossed my mind.

That first punch obviously didn't stop Wispy 'Stache, as he got up again and fire bent at me, catching me off-guard. I put my hands up to my face in a pathetic attempt to protect myself, only to have the girl step in front of me and bend the flames away from the two of us. She then proceeded to grab Wispy 'Stache by his hands and throw him into a shop window, destroying the window and most likely a couple of bones.

Yeah, he was definitely going to feel that in the morning, too.

Looking at her handiwork, the girl smiled and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"Got an idea who I am now, chumps?" She said, placing her hands on her hips.

It was then it hit me. She had just Waterbended, Firebended and Earthbended all in the span of 30 seconds. How was that even possible? The only person that had the ability to do that was-

Then it clicked.

_She's the Avatar, you idiot. _I shook my head at how long that had taken for me to figure out, but then another thought crossed my mind.

_Wait, did I just...airbend? How hard did I hit my head back there?_ Shaking my head again, I dusted myself off and took a deep breath, hoping to go back home and sort through everything that happened. As I got up to leave, I realize that I was surrounded by a group of people who were now staring at me, including the girl who could Waterbend, Earthbend and Firebend, apparently.

"Did she just bend all four elements?" Came some whispers from a few people in the crowd.

"That boy just airbended, I thought there were only four airbenders left in the world?" Whispered another.

"She must be the Avatar!"

"He must be the reincarnation of Avatar Aang's airbending spirit!" I looked at the man that had said that and he immediately recoiled. That didn't even make sense! Was it even possible to reincarnate as a...bending spirit? I didn't even want to think about it.

Suddenly, at the realization that all of these people had just seen me _airbend, _my heart began to race, and I couldn't help but feel a _little _dizzy with all of these people so close to me.

What _had _just happened? One minute I was getting my ass kicked by a Firebender with a terrible mustache and another minute I was bending...air?

That wasn't possible.

I wasn't a bender, my Grandmother was an Earthbender and as far as I had known, so were my parents, but there was no way that _I_ could've been-

"You're an airbender?" The girl said, interrupting my frantic thoughts. Her face was a mixture of excitement and shock, and she stepped forward, getting a little closer to me.

A little _too _close.

Instinctively, I took a step back, a little intimidated by the girl in front of me who had just taken on three benders without breaking a sweat. Deciding that I needed to dig myself out of the hole I had created, I tried to lie.

"What? No! Me? An Airbender? That's crazy! You're crazy!" I said quickly. Her face changed into one of irritation and I wasn't sure if it was because I had called her crazy or if it was because she could see through my terrible attempt at lying.

I had never been a good liar, anyway.

"I just saw you airbend that guy into that Sato Mobile over there. Why are you being so weird? This is amazing! I thought-" I interrupted her immediately.

"Yeah, yeah, you thought there were only four benders in the world and now you're absolutely amazed because you _think _you saw one more. You saw wrong, okay? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be." I said, turning my back to her and walking off.

Technically, that was a lie too. I didn't really have anywhere to be, but anywhere seemed better than there at that moment. Before I had even had a chance to walk a foot away from her, she grabbed my arm and marched me towards the crowd of people that were still discussing the events that had happened minutes prior.

"You're not going anywhere," She said to me as she she turned towards the crowd of civilians that had gathered. "Who else saw this guy airbend?" Several people put their hands up in agreement.

Of course they would. Again, things never seemed to go the way I wanted them to.

I grabbed her arm, which was freakishly muscular by the way, and pulled her just far enough away so that people couldn't hear us.

"Would you keep your voice down? I don't know what this thing is and I sure as hell can't control it. I don't need you telling the entire city that I can airbend!" I said, sharply, hoping that she would get how serious I was being.

She chuckled, instead, and completely ignored me.

"Aha! So, you admit that you are an Airbender!" I rolled my eyes and let go of her arm, wanting to slap myself for indirectly admitting that I was an Airbender. I wasn't, damn it! It was a fluke!

"Just keep it to yourself, please." I asked, already fed up for the day and I was pretty sure it wasn't even 10:30 yet.

"Sure." She responded, walking away from me.

"That didn't sound convincing at all." I said to her. She was probably one of the most exasperating people I had ever met, and I had met her less than ten minutes ago! Just as I was about to follow her, I felt something warm and wet on my back, only to be tackled by a huge Polar Bear Dog.

A Polar Bear Dog.

In Republic City? Oh man, this girl really was fresh off the boat. The Polar Bear Dog then proceeded to lick my face and cover it in animal saliva.

"Can this day get any worse?" I muttered under my breath.

The girl smiled and patted the Polar Bear Dog's side.

"Aw, Naga likes you. She's a great judge of character." She said, putting her hands on her hips. I noticed how often she did that. It seemed to be her "thing".

"That's awesome! Can you ask Naga to get off of me? I think I'm losing feeling in my face." The girl gently spoke to her animal companion and pulled me up off of the ground with ease. I was surprised at how strong she was as I had a couple inches on her, easy. I then proceeded to wipe the Polar Bear Dog saliva off of my face with my sleeve.

It smelled weird.

After a moment of wiping saliva and spirits knows what else off of my face, it occurred to me that I didn't even know her name.

"Hey, so I don't know your name and I'm pretty sure 'Avatar' isn't it." I said sticking my hand out. "I'm Takeo. Nice to meet you." She took my hand in hers and shook it.

"Korra." She said, smiling back at me. It was genuine. The first genuine smile that I had encountered in awhile. Unfortunately, our little meet and greet was cut short by the sound of police sirens blaring in the distance, followed by several metal bending officers jumping out of the large airship above.

My face changed into one of confusion as I watched the Metalbenders use their cables to land in the street. Seeing Metalbenders _and_ an airship was rare, as it wasn't often that they would get involved in petty gang disputes like this one. So that meant one thing.

Someone was about to be in _a lot _of trouble.

"Cool, Metalbenders." Korra said, with a look of bewilderment on her face. I looked over at her and smiled.

_Here's a girl that can bend all four elements and literally has the entire world on her shoulders, but she's still able to get excited about seeing Metalbenders._ I thought. In a really strange way, I found it charming.

Without wasting anytime, Korra walked towards the metalbenders, with Naga and I following closely behind.

"Hey, officer. We caught the bad guys for you." She said, stepping aside to show the officer the mess she and I had created.

The first officer to land on the ground stopped in front of us. He looked at Korra and then motioned to his squad of five or six men behind him.

"Arrest the three triads over there and arrest them too." He said, pointing at Korra and I. My eyes went wide and Korra gasped.

I couldn't get arrested again! I had been laying low since I had found a job and after several incidents (that totally weren't my fault) I had been warned that if I was brought in again, I would be put away, for good.

I couldn't get arrested again. I just couldn't.

Seeing that most of the officer's attention was on Korra, I began to back away slowly, hoping to make it to the alleyway and make a run for it. Korra however, was immediately on the defensive and stood her ground.

"What do you mean we're under arrest? Those are the bad guys over there. They were smashing up a shop! Me and Takeo here were protecting these people!" I stopped backing away, and reluctantly walked back to where she was standing. I couldn't just leave her there. I sighed internally, cursing my moral compass for the second time in the span of half an hour.

"Uh, yeah, officer. Those guys were threatening Mr. Chang so we decided to step in." I interjected, now standing at Korra's side.

"My name is Chung!" Mr. Chung yelled out from the crowd. I cringed at the glare that Korra gave me, which probably made the officer even more unconvinced at our story.

"From the looks of it, you smashed up a whole lot more than that." He said. Seconds later, he threw his hand out and wrapped his metalbending cable around my wrist.

"Wait, you can't arrest me! We can explain!" I said, struggling against the officer's cable that was reeling me in. Now, this would've been a time where my airbending would have come in handy. But of course, with my 60% success rate that didn't happen.

"You can explain all you like yourself down at headquarters." The officer said as he pulled me in closer, only for the line to be retracted as Korra intervened. I was free! I watched as Naga pushed one of the officers into a wall and lowered herself to let Korra on her back.

"Get on!" Korra called to me from on top of her Polar Bear Dog.

Oh no, there was no way I was getting on that thing.

"No way! You know what? I think I'm just gonna-AH" She grabbed my hand and pulled me onto Naga's back. Immediately, we sped off onto the main road. Just as we were about to head down 7th Avenue, I felt yet another metalbending cable wrap around my wrist, and just as it was about to yank me off of Naga, the line retracted and a metalbending officer went flying.

"Did you just kick that officer off of Naga?!" I asked, in total shock.

"Yep!" Korra answered nonchalantly.

"You just assaulted an officer!" I yelled in disbelief. Korra looked at me and frowned.

"I had no choice! He was coming after us and he would've grabbed you!" She replied.

It was official. This girl was nuts.

I shook my head, and held onto Korra for dear life as we continued on Naga's back, speeding through the city with the metalbending officers hot on our heels. After several minutes of trying to lose the police force and me holding on for dear life, an airship appeared and wrapped Naga up in it's cables. Our little adventure had come to an end. I hung my head, scared of what was coming next.

* * *

**REPUBLIC CITY POLICE STATION**

"Hey! Watch the shirt." I said struggling against the handcuffs and the rather large metalbending officer who was holding me by my collar. Korra and I had been apprehended a few minutes before and now I had no idea where I was being taken.

_Stupid. _I thought. _You should've kept walking, but nooo, you had to be the hero. Look where that got you. In jail. _

"Wait here, someone will be in shortly for questioning." The gruff metalbender said. I looked down at the handcuffs and then at the officer.

"I don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon." I said. The look the officer gave me made me recoil.

The officer sat me in the chair and handcuffed my hands to the table. There was no way I was going to get out of here even if I wanted to, and now all I could do was wait. After several minutes of staring into space, I looked up at the ceiling and noticed a spider-fly perched in the corner and the web it had made.

I wondered where it came from, or how long it had been up there. Why did it choose _that _particular spot-

I was really bored, wasn't I? I sighed and slumped down further into the chair. This day _really _wasn't going how I thought it would. After a few moments of feeling sorry for myself and cursing under my breath, a portion of the door slid open and Korra was led in and sat on the opposite side of the table by the same metalbending officer that had brought me in. I waited for the Metalbending officer to leave before I said anything.

"Well, if it isn't my partner in crime! It's about time you showed up! You know, this is definitely a story I'll tell my kids one day. The story of how I ended up sharing a jail cell with the Avatar!" I said, dramatically.

"You're not funny." She deadpanned. She paused for a moment and then began pulling on the cuffs to no avail.

"Don't bother. I already tried getting out of these things a hundred times, so unless you're a metalbender, that ain't happening," Well, that wasn't _exactly_ true. I had tried getting out of them once and gave up. She frowned and gave me a curious look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, slightly weirded out that she was staring at me.

"So, what's it like being an Airbender?" Korra asked.

"I already told you that I'm not an Airbender." I replied quickly.

"Why do you keep saying that? I saw you Airbend!" She replied. I began to protest, but she shut me up immediately. "And don't try to deny it! I saw you! What's your problem anyway? Being an Airbender is like, the coolest thing in the world!" Korra said, making me raise my eyebrows.

"I guess you would know, being the Avatar and all." I said. Korra's face fell immediately, making me wonder if I had unintentionally hit some kind of sore spot. Sure, I wasn't a fan of her at that moment, but that didn't mean I wanted to hurt her either.

"Actually...I'm not an Airbender. That's why I'm here in Republic City." She admitted.

I thought about what she had just said. Thinking about it, I couldn't recall actually _seeing _her airbend when we were fighting off those Triads.

"You...can't airbend?" I asked, hoping that she didn't hear the surprise in my voice. _What kind of Avatar can't airbend? _I thought.

Now, I wasn't an expert on all things Avatar, but from the books I had read, I was sure that Avatars liked to use all four elements when bending.

"No. I can't." She said, shortly. From the expression on her face and the way she had answered me, I realized that that was definitely the end of _that _conversation. I looked at her and then looked down at my own cuffs, an idea suddenly popping into my head.

"Listen up." I said, waiting for Korra's attention. "Someone's probably going to come in here soon, so let me do all the talking and we'll be outta here in no time." I said from the opposite end of the table. She smiled at me and rolled her eyes, which irritated me immensely. Was she really brushing me off when _she _was the one that had gotten us into this mess in the first place? I wasn't the one that had dropkicked a police officer.

"Takeo, I'm the Avatar and you're a _friend_ of the Avatar. They're not gonna keep us in here. I'll just let them know that it was a big misunderstanding andwe'll be outta here in no time." She said leaning back, obviously satisfied with her plan.

I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair. First of all, we _weren't_ friends and second, there was no way they were going to buy that 'Avatar' crap. She had no clue.

"Playing the Avatar card isn't gonna work, you know," I said. She straightened up, getting defensive.

"And how do you know that, tough guy?"

"Let's just say I have some experience being in here." I replied. There was no point trying to hide anything from her. Everything was pretty much out in he open at this point.

"What?! Are you some kind of criminal? Because if I had known I wouldn't have helped you escape-" She said, getting flustered.

I rolled my eyes again and began to laugh, which seemed to make her even more annoyed.

"Escape? Listen, kid, we're two rooms away from a jail cell." I said.

"Did you just call me 'kid'?" She exclaimed.

Before either of us could argue any more, Chief Beifong entered the holding room and slammed her clipboard down onto the middle of the table, startling the both of us.

She was pissed. So naturally, I tried my luck.

"Chief Beifong, you are absolutely glowing today! Did you do something new with your hair?" I said, piling on the charm. She looked at me and frowned.

"Cut the crap, Takeo. You want to tell about that little stunt you pulled this afternoon?" Beifong asked. I looked down at the ground and then back at her.

"Uh, just so we're on the same page, what exactly did _you _hear? Because I can guarantee it's not as bad as it sounds," I said, trailing off. What was I going to say? It's not like I could've made something up. She would've known immediately and Earthbended me into a jail cell that very second. Beifong shook her head and began to pace around the small table Korra and I were seated at.

"Let's see, multiple counts of destruction of private and city property... not to mention evading arrest. You two are in a whole mess of trouble. Especially you, Takeo." She said, placing her hands on the table.

"But there were some thugs threatening a helpless shop keeper and I had to- " Korra interjected, trying to explain herself before Beifong shut her down. I was silently thanking her for taking the heat off of me a little.

"You should have called the police and stayed out of the way." Beifong said.

"Well, yeah, but I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. It's my duty to help people. You see, I'm the Avatar." She said with a nervous grin, obviously hoping for the best. If I had had enough range of motion to bang my head against the table, I would have.

"Oh, I know exactly who you are." Beifong said. "Your Avatar title might impress some people, but not me," Beifong then turned to me again.

Great, I was kinda enjoying not being on the receiving end of the Chief's tongue lashing.

"And you! What were you doing taking on thugs with the Avatar?" She crossed her arms and waited for my response.

"Well, technically, I was dragged into this...but I swear, Chief, I didn't even know who she was until she started Earthbending...after she had started Waterbending...after she started Firebending..." I trailed off.

"Hey, I was trying to help!" Korra yelled from across the table. I could see the fire in her eyes and I could tell she was _not _happy. It probably wasn't the best idea to throw her under the Sato Bus like that, but hey, she was the one who had gotten the both of us into this mess. "You were getting your butt kicked until I came in and saved the day!" She continued on. I looked at her incredulously. Was this girl for real?

"I was not! You told the guy you were gonna put him into a hospital!" I said, then turning to Beifong. "I don't know about you Chief Beifong, but that sounds like a pretty serious threat." I said, throwing Korra under the bus again. I cringed at the facial expression she made, and I was sure that I would've been in danger if it wasn't for those handcuffs and the table between us. Chief Beifong put her hand up, silencing the both of us.

"That still doesn't explain why you were seen trying to flee from the crime scene."

I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "She pulled me onto her Polar Bear Dog and there was no way I was jumping off of that thing."

"Hey, that _thing_ is my best friend!" Korra said. Her voice getting dangerously low.

I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. "That's kinda sad, actually."

Korra tried to lunge at me from across the table and at that moment I felt like the luckiest guy alive that she was handcuffed. Note to self, don't talk smack about the Polar Bear Dog.

Like, ever.

At our antics, Beifong ran her hands through her hair. Was she frustrated or confused? I couldn't guess. After a few moments of probably wondering what she did to deserve being stuck in a room with the two of us, she stood up straight and looked at me. I could feel her green eyes piercing into my soul. I was terified.

"Takeo, what have I told you about this nonsense? I warned you, third strike and you're out. I'm going to have to put you away for this." She said, reaching for her clipboard and began furiously scribbling something on it. Somehow in the span of 2 minutes I had managed to piss off not only the Chief of Police, but also the Avatar.

"Wait, Chief Beifong, please! If you would just let me explain-" My pleading was interrupted when a small section of the wall opened, and a cop peaked into the room. At least it wasn't the big guy that had brought me in.

"Chief Beifong, Councilman Tenzin is here." The metalbender said. Beifong couldn't look anymore irritated if she tried.

"Let him in." She sighed.

Moments later, a fairly tall man dressed in orange and yellow robes entered the room. So, _that _was Councilman Tenzin. He was Avatar Aang's son and the only Airbending Master in the entire _world_. The guy was practically a celebrity and I had to admit, it was a little weird being in the same room as him. Korra was the first to greet him and I could see the nervousness etched across her face.

"Hey…Tenzin. I got a little side tracked on my way to see you." She said, laughing nervously.

The Councilman furrowed his eyebrows, and I could tell that he was none too impressed with the Avatar and her antics. He looked at Korra and then turned his attention to Chief Beifong.

"Lin, you're looking radiant as usual," He began.

_Good luck, buddy. _I thought._ I already tried that and failed miserably. _As expected, the Chief shut him down quickly.

"Can it, Tenzin. Why is the Avatar in Republic City? I thought you were supposed to be moving down south to train her?"

"My relocation has been delayed. The Avatar, on the other hand, will be heading back to the South Pole immediately, where she will stay put. If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra, I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events, and cover all the damages." He said.

"But, that's not fair-" Korra said, beginning to protest. The Councilman ignored her and turned to me, watching me carefully with a face that I couldn't read.

"And who is this young man?" He asked. I could hear the curiosity in his voice, so I decided to be polite and greet him first. You know, good first impressions and all that jazz.

"The name's, Takeo. Pleasure to meet you, Councilman Tenzin. I would shake your hand, but, you know." I said gesturing to my cuffed hands from across the table. Lin looked at the two us and decided to answer Tenzin's question.

"This one aided the Avatar on her journey of destruction and-"

"AND HE'S AN AIRBENDER!" Korra yelled out. In unison, Tenzin, Beifong and I looked at her. I had no idea what the other two were thinking but, oh boy, was I not happy.

"You promised you wouldn't say anything!" I said. Looking frantically between the three of them. Even Beifong looked a little caught off guard.

Huh, so she did have emotions other than straight up pissed or slightly unimpressed.

"I'm sorry, Korra. Did you just say that he is an _Airbender_?" Tenzin asked, as if he hadn't heard correctly.

Korra looked at me with a smile on her face and I shook my head, trying to get her to _stop, _but for what was probably the _millionth _time that day, she ignored me.

"I was just as surprised as you, Tenzin, but I know what I saw. Come on Takeo, show em'." She continued.

I glared at Korra, but she seemed...oblivious. No, not oblivious. She was definitely doing this on purpose. I sighed, realizing that there was no way I was talking myself out of this one.

"Okay, fine, yes...I think I might be Airbender, but I can't control it. To be honest, I don't know what happened back there when we were taking on those Triads. Everything just happened so fast. " I said, sincerely. I really didn't understand what was happening to me or _why _it was happening to me. I spent almost nineteen years of my life without any bending whatsoever and then all of a sudden, I was shooting air out of my fists.

The universe had some serious explaining to do.

After I had finished, there was silence for a few seconds, as if both the Councilman and Beifong were mulling what I had just said, over in their heads. Before I could say anything else, Beifong frowned and yet another tongue lashing ensued.

"I'm sorry, but unless I see some proof, I'm having a hard time believing that this isn't some kind of scheme to try and get you out of trouble." Beifong chimed in. I rolled my eyes and leaned back as far as I could.

"Chief Beifong, you wound me." I replied.

"One more quip out of you, kid, and I'm throwing you in a cell."

I stopped being a smartass after that.

"Okay, just let me try and prove to you both that I'm telling the truth," I said, looking at the both of them. After several moments of silence, I spoke up again. "You have to uncuff me first, though." I said, praying that it would work, because if it didn't...I shuddered at the thought.

"You must be out of your mind to think that I would uncuff you-" Beifong began, before Councilman Tenzin silenced her.

"Let the boy try, Lin. We're all master benders here anyway. He wouldn't get too far if he tried anything."

Ouch. That kinda stung. It was true, but it stung all the same. I wasn't _that _useless.

I had my moments.

Sometimes.

With a flick of her wrist, Beifong uncuffed Korra and I, and let us both stand up. I rubbed my wrists where the handcuffs had been and then I looked at Korra who nodded her head and smiled. I guessed that that was her way of telling me to "go for it". I took a deep breath and got into one of the stances that I had seen Korra do.

Well, I tried anyway.

I wasn't exactly sure of what I was doing and I probably looked like an idiot, but I tried. That was all that mattered. Or so I thought.

I punched the air and nothing happened. I did it again and then tried again a third time. Nothing. I looked over at Chief Beifong, Councilman Tenzin and Korra. Tenzin looked unimpressed, Beifong looked like she was ready to lock me up anytime now and Korra just looked disappointed. I punched the air for the fourth time.

I don't know why I thought that would work.

"Enough of this nonsense! This is a waste of my time and-" Chief Beifong said, but before she could get any further, Korra interjected.

"Chief Beifong, wait! I think I know how Takeo can prove to you that he is an Airbender." She said.

"You know, that really would have been helpful about 30 seconds ago." I said, sarcastically.

"Shut up and think fast." Korra replied.

"What do you mean think fas-"

Before I could even register what she had meant, a ball of fire was hurtled at me. Instinctively, I raised my hands up to protect my face. A few seconds later, I lowered my hands and opened my eyes.

Tenzin's jaw was almost on the floor, Lin looked shocked and Korra had a smile plastered on her face. Judging by their reactions, it was pretty safe to assume that Korra's plan had worked. Saying that, I was a little worried that Korra was so willing to throw a fireball at me. What if that hadn't worked?

After a few moments of overthinking and awkward silence, Tenzin was the first to speak, He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me dead in the eye. I was a fairly tall guy, being a little over 6 feet, but standing next to Tenzin made me feel like a toddler. He had to have been pushing 6'4-6'5, easy.

"Son, you do realize how important this is, don't you? As of right now, there are only four airbenders in the entire world, including myself. I have so many questions. Where are you from? Are you-" Thankfully, Korra saved me from his interrogation.

"Whoa, Tenzin! At least give him some time to answer your first question before you ask anymore." Korra said, obviously amused at the councilman being so flustered. Tenzin straightened his robe and turned towards Lin.

"Right. Lin, if you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra and Takeo here, I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events, and cover all the damages." Beifong turned her head to the side almost as if she was contemplating locking us up or not.

Come on lady, I just airbent in front of you. Cut me some slack. She exhaled and crossed her arms, scowling at the three of us.

"Fine. Get them both out of my city."

"And you." She pointed at me, my eyes grew wide. "If I see you in here one more time, I swear to the spirits I will lock you up. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." I said quickly. I would be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely terrified. She seemed to soften a little before she spoke again.

"Good. Now it looks like you've been given a gift here. Don't waste it."

"Always a pleasure, Lin." At that, Tenzin turned and ushered both Korra and I out of the room, and I had happened to turn around just in time to see Lin doing a I've got my eyes on you gesture at Korra. Korra returned it and tromped out of the room, obviously satisfied with her triumph for the day. However, it was short lived as Tenzin laid into her in the office area. I made sure to stay in the background.

"You, young lady, blatantly disobeyed my wishes, and the orders of the White Lotus." Tenzin started.

Korra wasn't having any of it. "Katara agreed with me that I should come. She said my destiny is in Republic City." Katara? Wait, _the_ Katara. The Katara that had defeated the Firelord with Avatar Aang? She was Tenzin's mother, right?

Tenzin's face turned red and I could've sworn I saw steam coming out of his nostrils. "Don't bring my mother into this!"

Yeah, she was his mother alright. Korra ignored his outburst and carried on.

"Tenzin, I can't wait any longer to finish my training. Being cooped up and hidden away from the world isn't helping me become a better Avatar." Korra sighed and continued. "I saw a lot of the city today, and it's totally out of whack. I understand now why you need to stay. Republic City does need you, but it needs _me_ too." She walked past Tenzin and walked towards me, putting her hand on the small of my back and facing Tenzin. She continued again.

"And look, if I hadn't come to Republic City, I would never have met Takeo. You see Tenzin, there's hope for the future. You're not in this alone." Tenzin stroked his beard, clearly looking like he was considering his words. Korra was right. I decided to speak up, hoping I wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

"She's right, Councilman Tenzin. I'm sure Korra being here in Republic City under your supervision will be good for her and I know she's going to listen to _everything_ you say from now on. Right, Korra?" After not getting an immediate response, I nudged her gently. "Right, Korra?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I would like that, Takeo. But I'm afraid that for her safety, I cannot allow Korra to stay in the city." He paused for a few seconds almost as if a million and one things were running through his mind. It stung a little to see Korra's face drop like that. She may have been hot-headed and stubborn but I was starting to like her. In a way, it was nice to be around people whose heart was in the right place. It was nice to be around good people for a change. .

"Is this your Polar Bear Dog, miss?" A police officer said, walking into the reception area. Naga licked the officer, making his hair stick up in three different directions. Korra and I looked at each other and immediately burst out laughing. Even Councilman Tenzin looked like he was trying to hide a smirk. Still laughing, Korra took the leash out of the officer's hand and thanked him. The officer stomped off, muttering under his breath.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guys. It's been a while, huh? For those of you that don't know, I had this story up on here a few months ago, but I decided to take it down because I realized ...I had no idea where I wanted this story to go and I felt like you could see it in my writing. So, I took some time off, did some brainstorming and here we are again. The characters are the same, Takeo's still the same but this time around, I feel like his journey is going to make a LOT more sense. **

**I've decided to do ~10k chapter updates, that way the story flows a little better and I do remember a couple people saying they preferred the longer chapters. My plan is to write ahead and release them on a weekly (ish) basis, so by the time you guys are reading this I should be well into the heart of the story...hopefully lol. **

**Anyway, if you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and I hope you guys enjoy this one. **

**Peace. **

**-Twerk. **


	2. II

**Chapter II**

**Air Temple Island**

**170 AG**

* * *

The sun was beginning to set by the time we had left the police station. As the three of us made our way down the front steps of the police station, I realized that Korra and I had been in there for almost _half_ the day. I marveled at the fact that Korra and I had been in there so long, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad that my _only_ day off for the week had been wasted on something stupid like getting arrested. I shook my head at the thought of getting arrested again, and then it hit me.

I had just _Airbended. _Like, actually _airbended_. The air that had just come out of my fists had come from me.

"That's crazy," I muttered, to no one in particular.

"Did you say something, son?" Tenzin asked, looking at me.

"No," I said, quickly. "Just thinking out loud."

Tenzin looked at me once again, nodded his head and continued walking.

As we walked, I couldn't help but notice that Korra had taken it upon herself to walk a little further ahead of Councilman Tenzin and I. I had only known her for a few hours, but from the looks she had kept giving the Councilman every time she glanced behind her, I could tell that she wasn't exactly ecstatic about his decision in not letting her stay in the city. She glanced behind her again, but quickly turned around when the two of us made eye contact.

"I'm doing this for her own good, you know," The Councilman said as we walked towards the Republic City Docks. I looked down at the ground, and then at Korra, who was still ahead of us.

"Why don't you want her here in the city?" I asked him. Sure, the city was getting pretty dangerous, but in the short time that I had known her, Korra had proved to be a pretty capable fighter who could definitely handle herself.

"I promised my father that I would always do what was best for her. At the moment, being in the city will do her more harm than good." Tenzin said. I nodded my head in understanding, but decided to keep quiet as I was sure he had his reasons. Plus, it wasn't my place to question him. Especially as I had just met these people a few hours ago and had almost ended up being put away as a result of it.

Moments later, as we approached the docks, I glanced over at the Councilman who was gazing up at the large statue dedicated to Avatar Aang. Growing up, I had heard so many stories about how the Avatar and his friends took down Firelord Ozai. It never ceased to amaze me how he had had managed to do it at twelve years old.

Hell, I was eighteen and I still could barely walk without tripping over myself.

"Avatar Aang was your father, right?" I asked, looking up at the large statue as well. The Councilman nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"Before we reach the docks, I wanted to know if I could ask you some questions," He said, changing the subject. I nodded my head, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Korra had stopped and was now watching the two of us curiously.

"As you know, Takeo, there are only four airbenders left in the entire world, including myself." He paused for a second, as if he was searching for the right words. "I'm sure you can imagine my shock, when I learned of your abilities," He finished.

Yeah, buddy, how'd you think I felt? I was still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. It had hit me, but I had gotten the feeling that it hadn't really s_unk in _yet.

"First of all, I would love to sit down with you and your parents and discuss the possibility of you learning the ways of the Air Nomad," He finished. I looked down at my feet and rubbed the back of my neck, a nervous habit I had picked up as a kid. I wasn't sure when or _how _I had picked it up, but it just sort of happened whenever I got nervous.

"I-uh." I began. "My parents aren't around anymore, sir. I lived with my Grandma for half of my life, but she passed on a few years ago." I finished. A look of sadness flickered across the Councilman's face.

"So, you've been by yourself all this time?" He asked, with concern. "How old are you, son?"

"Eighteen. I'll be nineteen in the fall." I answered.

"Takeo, I'm so sorry. If I had known..." He said, trailing off.

"It's fine." I said quickly. The Councilman nodded his head, and cleared his throat again.

"Well, in that case, I wanted to know if you would be willing to join my family and I on Air Temple Island." He said. "I would be honored to train you in the art of airbending," He said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I will do my best to teach you to control and master your bending. I understand that it is a lot for me to ask, but I truly do believe that you and Korra have crossed paths for a reason."

To say that I was shocked would have been the understatement of the century. I hadn't expected Councilman Tenzin to personally ask me to stay on Air Temple Island, and with his family at that. Today had to be the _weirdest _day ever and for the first time ever, I struggled to get words out.

"I-I don't know what to say. I can't say that I expected this." I stuttered, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"I totally understand, and I am more than happy to give you time to make a decision." The Councilman said. Just as he finished, the ship's bell began to ring, indicating that it had docked.

Moments later, three White Lotus guards had stepped off the large ship and began to walk towards us. It was a little strange seeing them in person, as they were usually only found where important political figures and war heroes were. If I had to guess, they were probably there to escort Korra back home.

It was strange, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness at the thought of Korra leaving. Yeah, she was a little impulsive, annoying, stubborn, and obnoxious, but deep down, there was something about her that I had found...endearing.

Maybe Tenzin was right. Maybe our paths _had _crossed for a reason. I wasn't sure what that reason was, but it had to have been for a purpose.

Seconds later, the sound of childish laughter broke me out of my musings. I looked up at the sky, and noticed three kids flying on what looked like...gliders? I wasn't sure what they were, but they sure as hell looked cool. After a few moments, the three children landed in front of us and ran towards Korra.

Korra's face broke out into a smile and she hugged the three children warmly. They were dressed in clothing similar to the Councilman, so I assumed that these were the three other airbenders that everybody talked.

They were Tenzin's kids.

I had never actually seen them before, since they were almost always on the island, protected by numerous White Lotus Guards. If I was being honest, it was a little surreal, since Airbenders weren't exactly a dime a dozen these days.

After a few moments of talking to Korra, the smallest of the three children turned around and stared at me curiously, all while standing behind Korra. I waved at him awkwardly and he waved back, before disappearing behind Korra again.

"Korra, are you coming to live with us on the island?" The girl with the pom-poms in her hair asked. "And who's that guy over there? Is he your body guard?" She continued, this time pointing at me. Korra put her arm around the girl.

"Ikki, that's Takeo. He's a friend." Korra said, making eye contact with me for a moment. "And no, Ikki, I'm not staying on the island. I have to go home now." She continued sadly. The girl she had called Ikki looked down at the ground with an extremely disappointed look on her face. Judging by the way that they had reacted in seeing her, it was obvious that Korra was very close to the kids.

"But I don't want you to leave," The littlest of the three said. Korra smiled at him sadly, and scooped him up in her arms.

"Don't worry, Meelo. I'll come visit. Or maybe you guys can come down to the South Pole again." She said.

"Can we make snowmen and have snowball fights?" The tallest of the three children said, speaking up for the first time.

"Of course, Jinora." Korra answered. After another minute or two of talking to the three mini-airbenders, Korra turned away from the kids and began to walk towards the Councilman and I. She stopped in front of me and smiled sadly.

"It was nice meeting you, Takeo. I'm sorry I got us arrested," She said, making me chuckle.

"It made for a pretty eventful day, so I can't complain." I said. "It was nice meeting you too, Korra. I hope I'll see you around."

At that she looked at Tenzin, nodded her head and began to walk towards the White Lotus Guards who were there to take her back home. A part of me wanted to scream at Tenzin to change his mind and let her stay, but of course, I didn't.

Unbeknownst to me, Tenzin had been thinking the same thing. As she had reached about halfway to the White Lotus guards, Tenzin had spoke up.

"Korra, wait!" He sighed and rubbed his temple. "I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it, but you're right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy, but you _are_ his legacy. You may stay and train airbending here with me. I think Republic City needs its Avatar once again." He said. He walked towards her and put his hand on her shoulder and I could see the grin that formed on Korra's face as she jumped for joy.

"Yes, you're the best! Thank you!" She yelled as she scooped the Councilamn and the three kids into a giant bear hug.

It was nice to see such genuine love between a family. I hadn't really known that. I had been so young when I moved away from my Mom and Dad that I didn't really have a lot of family memories. My Grandma was...different. She had cared. I knew she did, but she had never really shown it. I knew that she loved me, but sometimes I wished that she had said it to me more. I could feel tears stinging the corner of my eyes and I did my best to fight them back as I saw Tenzin and Korra approaching once again.

"And as for you, Takeo. Have you thought about our conversation?" Tenzin asked. I paused for a second and nodded my head.

I had decided that I wanted to stay with them and learn how to airbend. There was nothing left for me back home. Maybe this whole airbending thing _was _a part of my destiny.

And okay, maybe I wanted to spend a little more time with Korra.

What? She made things a little more interesting, okay?

"I've decided to accept your offer and stay on the island with you. It would be an honor to train under you, Master Tenzin." I bowed. I turned to Korra next.

"And it would be an honor to learn airbending with you, Avatar Korra." I said, bowing again.

Korra's face lit up and she smiled at me. I smiled back and then Tenzin proceeded to introduce me to his three kids who stood behind him. He introduced Jinora first. She was the oldest and the quietest. Then Ikki, who was the most talkative and then the youngest, Meelo, who proceeded to airbend himself on top of my shoulders almost immediately.

That was quick.

The six of us made our way back to the Island gates, with Meelo staying on my shoulders for the entire ten-minute walk. He was a sweet kid.

We talked about Airbending, his sisters, his mom and dad, his favorite foods, his pet sky-bison. The kid basically gave me his entire life story.

I mean, it wasn't hard, he was only five.

"Does this mean that you're my brother now? It'll be cool to have another boy on the island so we can go on adventures and stuff. Jinora and Ikki never want to go anywhere with me." He said as we stood outside the gates.

I smiled at the young boy on my shoulders.

"Of course, buddy. We can go on adventures, but you've gotta ask your Mom and Dad first." I replied.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, he hopped off of my shoulders and ran off behind his sisters. We entered the compound and I couldn't help but be amazed at how beautiful it was. I had imagined that this is what the old Air Nomad temples had looked like before the hundred-year war. The island was also a whole lot bigger than I had expected. From where I lived in the city, it definitely looked a lot smaller, but in person it was _huge. _

As we entered, we were greeted by a man and a woman two dressed in yellow and red robes. They were dressed similarly to Tenzin and the kids, which confused me a little. Were they airbenders too?

"Korra, Takeo. This is Ming and Ban, two acolytes of this temple. They will take you to your rooms and get you settled in. I ask that the both of you get to bed early as we have our very first training session tomorrow morning. Goodnight." He bowed and walked off.

_Wow. _I thought. _He really didn't waste any time. _

I looked over at Korra who also had a surprised look on her face, and guessed that she was probably thinking the same thing. Before either of us could guess what the other was thinking, the female acolyte spoke.

"Avatar Korra, please let me escort you to your quarters. Mister Takeo, Ban will escort you to yours," The woman said, bowing at the both of us.

"Follow me, Mister Takeo." The male acolyte, Ban, said. He was an older man that looked like he was around Tenzin's age. Maybe a little older.

After Korra and I had gone our separate ways, I found myself marveling at the intricate designs of the temple grounds. It amazed me how much thought had been put into the place. I had never seen anything quite like it.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Ban said, looking at me.

"It's amazing." I replied.

"This temple was built by Avatar Aang, sixty years ago. I was born and raised as an Acolyte here on the island," Ban continued.

"I've been meaning to ask, are you an airbender? I've seen quite a few people walking around in those fancy robes and stuff, so I assumed you guys were benders or something." I said, to which he chuckled.

"No, no. The Air Acolytes are an order of monks and nuns that were founded by Avatar Aang over seventy years ago. We are non-benders dedicated to preserving and practicing the teachings, culture and traditions of the ancient Air Nomads," He explained. I nodded my head, feeling a little stupid. That made _way _more sense than what I had initially thought.

After Ban had gotten into a little more detail on the history of the island and the Air Acolytes, it had taken us no longer than five minutes to find my room and get me settled in for the night. It wasn't like I had any belongings other than the clothes on my back.

With my new living arrangement, I figured I would have to go back to my apartment, pick up the rest of my stuff and explain to my landlord, Jing, why I wasn't coming back. I wondered how that conversation would go.

_Hey, asshole. I'm an Airbender now. See ya! _Man, I couldn't wait to see the look on his face.

I looked around the small room and observed the closet and the small bed situated in the corner. I opened the closet doors, and was surprised to find two sets of Air Nomad robes. If I wasn't mistaken, it looked e_xactly_ like the same robes that the kids were wearing. I took it off the hanger and held it outwards, getting a good look at it.

It was a little old fashioned, but it didn't look _terrible._ I wasn't sure how it would look on me, but I figured that I would find out eventually. I put the robe back on the hanger and placed it back in the closet. I then moved over to the bed, took my jacket off and hung it over the chair at the side of the bed. Then, like a child, I sat on the bed and bounced on it a few times to test it out.

Man, was that thing comfortable!

Kicking off my shoes, I dived head-first on to the bed and laid my head down on the pillow, amazed at how comfortable it was. It had to have been the most comfortable bed I had ever laid on.

Shortly after laying down, I began drifting off to sleep, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door moments later. I got up quickly, expecting to see Ban or one of the other Acolytes on the island, but to my surprise it was Korra standing on the other side of the door.

"Oh, it's you." I said. I shut my eyes for a moment, cringing at what had just come out of my mouth. _Is that really how you greet a girl, you idiot!_ I thought.

"Wow, nice to see you too," She replied sarcastically.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that." I said. "I just wasn't expecting..._you_."

"Oh." She said, "Well, I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened today. I didn't mean to get you in trouble with Beifong." She said, apologizing for the second time that evening. I smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You taught me a lesson today, actually. Now I know when to run if I ever see a girl bending three elements at the same time," I smiled at her as she punched me on the arm lightly.

"You're a jerk!" She laughed. "But seriously though, thanks for having my back. I appreciate it."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" I said, holding my hand out. She looked down at my extended hand for a moment and then looked at me and smiled.

"Right." She said, taking my hand and clasping it.

"You know, oddly enough, you getting us arrested was probably the highlight of the month for me." I joked.

"Seriously?" She laughed.

"Yeah! I haven't seen that much action in, well, ever." I admitted. My life was pretty monotonous. Eat, sleep, go to work, get yelled at by Jing, rinse and repeat.

"I would think living in Republic City you'd see a lot more." Korra said.

"That's what everyone that doesn't live in the city says. I guess being from the Southern Water Tribe, you guys don't really see much." I said. Her faced changed, as if she was shocked that I knew where she was from.

"How did you-"

"Your accent," I said.

"I didn't realize I had one. If anything, I'd say _you_ were the one with the accent." She said, folding her arms.

"It's not crazy different or anything, but you don't really sound like you're from here," I told her. If I was being honest, I liked the way people from the Southern WaterTribe sounded. I didn't really know how to describe it, but they had a softer tone to their voices. They sounded _friendlier_ than us Republic City folk.

"So, that's what that guy meant when he told me I was "fresh off the boat." She said. I nodded my head.

"I'm sorry about that. He was an idiot."

"It's okay." She trailed off. "I have to admit though, it was a little satisfying seeing you knock him on his ass." She smiled.

"It was, wasn't it?" I agreed.

At that, we fell into a comfortable silence as we both stared outside the bedroom window at the large pro-bending arena across the city.

"It's always been my dream to go there." Korra said softly, breaking the silence.

"Well, I'll tell you what. When we have time, I'll take you over there to see your first game." I said. She looked at me and grinned.

"You know, I can tell that we're going to be good friends." She said, mischievously. I laughed and gazed out of the window once more.

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING **

_*Clack Clack*_

_*Clack Clack*_

_*CLACK CLACK CLACK*_

"Mister Takeo!" Yelled a voice from behind the door. My eyes flew open at the sudden interruption. Was it really morning already?

I rubbed my eyes and looked out of the window to my right. There were slivers of sunlight peeking through the curtains of the small window.

_*CLACK CLACK*_

"Mister Takeo!" The voice from behind the door said again. If I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn I had heard a hint of irritation in his voice...

"I'm up!" I yelled back, burying my head into my pillow.

"Master Tenzin requested that you be up, washed and ready for your upcoming lesson for the morning. He also asks that you meet him in the dining hall in half an hour wearing the robes found in your closet." The voice said.

"Yeah, sure! I'll do that. Thank you." I yelled. I rubbed my eyes and stared up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this early morning thing on a regular basis.

Rising slowly, I headed to the bathroom and prepared myself for the day. Minutes later, I left the shower and headed to the closet where the airbending robes were. Sighing at how early it still was, I put them on quickly and headed straight out of the door towards the dining hall.

As I left my room, I couldn't help but feel a nervous twinge in my stomach. Or was that just the itchiness of the new robes I was wearing? They weren't exactly a perfect fit, but I figured I'd be able to get them adjusted.

Hopefully.

I scratched at a _particularly_ itchy area close to my armpit and stopped dead in my tracks as I realized that I had no idea where I was. I wasn't in the boy's dormitory anymore but I wasn't _outside_ either. Where the _hell _was I?

Oh, boy.

"Hi." Said a voice from behind me. I spun around quickly and looked at who it was. It was that little girl that I had met yesterday night. One of Tenzin's girls. For the life of me, I couldn't remember her name.

"Hey...you!" I said awkwardly.

"My name's Ikki." She said matter-of-factly.

Well, the kid was smarter than I expected.

"Right, Ikki. Hi. I'm Takeo." I replied.

"I know. I saw you with my Dad yesterday. My Dad says you're an Airbender. Is that true?" She asked. She was talking a mile a minute and I was struggling to keep up.

"Well, kinda. I haven't actually figured out the _airbending _part yet. But I'm getting there!" I said, enthusiastically. She tilted her head and looked at me.

"You're weird." She said. I was a little taken aback at how _blunt _she was. Thinking about it, I had never actually had someone call me weird straight to my face before.

"Well if I'm weird, you're...weirder." I replied, a little offended that she had called me weird.

"Well if I'm weirder, you're super duper weird!" She said.

"Am not!" I said.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Mister Takeo? What are you doing here? Master Tenzin has been looking for you!" Ban said, emerging from behind a pillar. The poor guy sounded exasperated.

"I got lost, and then Ikki found me. Right, Ikki?" I said, trying to think of an excuse. It wasn't like I could've told him I was arguing with a little kid about who was weirder. Ban looked at me with a look that I couldn't decipher and then gestured for me to follow him.

"Ah, Takeo, nice of you to join us." Tenzin said, as Ban and I entered the dining hall a few moments later. He was sitting at the table with Korra, who seemed to be engrossed in the newspaper she was reading.

"I'm sorry. I got a little sidetracked on my way down here." I apologized.

"It happens." Korra said with a smile.

"Yes, the two of you seem to have that much in common." Tenzin said, with a less than amused look on his face. Korra rolled her eyes and smiled, once again before picking the newspaper she had put down moments before.

"So, Takeo, I presume you're well rested and ready for the day ahead of you?" Tenzin asked, before biting into a moon peach. I sat down next to a Korra and glanced at the newspaper. _Of course_ she was reading the pro-bending section.

"I'll be honest with you, Master Tenzin. It was a bit of a challenge waking up this early, but I'm sure I'll get used to it." I replied with a yawn.

"I wouldn't worry too much. I was never much of an early riser myself," Tenzin said. "and Takeo? Just Tenzin is fine. You _are_ a part of our family now."

Family? I was starting to like these people already. Just as I was about to respond, an Acolyte approached the table, and began talking to Tenzin. No big deal. I figured I'd get the chance to talk to him later.

"...and in the final round, the Buzzard Wasps won with a decisive knockout!" Korra said out loud. She had been reading the Pro-Bending section in the paper since I had arrived.

Me? I was struggling to keep my eyes open since Tenzin had wanted us up "bright and early" for our first Airbending session. I began drifting again until Korra flicked a grape at me.

"Huh? Yeah, what?" I said, clearing my throat.

She smiled at me. "I said, what do you think about going to catch a few Pro-Bending matches tonight?"

That didn't sound like a horrible idea. There was no way the both us could get arrested.

"That actually sounds like fun. I'm in." I said. Her eyes lit up and she had the widest grin on her face.

"What sounds like fun? I'm hoping it's reading over the preparatory airbending scrolls I left for the both you this morning?" Tenzin said from across the table. I got the feeling he hadn't caught the first part of our conversation. He looked at Korra who had folded her arms.

"Well not that that doesn't sound like heaps of fun, but Takeo and I were gonna go over to the Bending Arena and catch a few games." She looked at me and I nodded my head with a spoonful of porridge in my mouth. Tenzin, however, did _not_ look impressed.

"That sport is a mockery of the noble tradition of bending." He said.

Okay, I had to agree with him there.

Even though I hadn't been immersed in bending my entire life like Korra, I had seen and read a lot about the traditional types of bending. Pro-Bending was nothing like that. It was loud and fast and not graceful at all, but it was fun to watch.

Like really fun.

Korra sighed. "Come on, Tenzin! I've dreamed about seeing a pro-bending match since I was a kid, and now I'm just a ferry ride away from the arena!"

Tenzin, as stern as ever, refused to let up.

"Korra, you're not here to watch that drivel, you're here to finish your Avatar training. So, for the time being I want you both to remain on the island. I need you and Takeo to be in a calm and quiet environment where you are both able to focus. "

Korra rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Alright then. You're the master. May I be excused?" She said. She didn't wait for Tenzin to answer before she got up and stormed away. I looked at Tenzin who looked at me. I think we both silently agreed that giving her time to cool off was best for her. I shoved another spoonful of porridge in my mouth.

"So, Tenzin. How long did it take for you to master airbending?" I asked, breaking the silence. He seemed grateful for the question and perked up a little.

"My father began teaching me at around four years old and I got my tattoos at seventeen,"

Suddenly, I was intrigued. I hadn't known anything about the tattoo process. All I knew is that they kinda looked cool.

"So, getting your tattoos is a symbol of you Mastering Airbending?" I asked. He nodded his head, and took another bite of his moon peach.

"Yes. Upon your mastery of Airbending, five arrows are tattooed on your body. One extending from the base of the spine to the forehead, one for each arm pointing to the hands, and likewise for the legs and feet. The pattern is an emulation of the flying bison's natural markings, as they were the first airbenders." He explained. "Who knows, Takeo, maybe one day you will take that step and earn your tattoos."

I thought about it. It did sound kinda cool. Tenzin and I had ended up talking for another fifteen minutes or so, and eventually I had mustered up the courage to ask him about getting access to the library on the island, which he happily gave me some information on. To be honest, I think he was just happy to have one out of his two students actually interested in Airbending. After a few more minutes of chatting, I reluctantly broke up the conversation.

"I hate to break up the conversation, but I think I'm gonna go check up on Korra. It was nice talking to you, Tenzin." I said, rising from my seat.

"Likewise. We'll have to continue this some other time." He said. As I turned to leave before he called out to me again.

"And Takeo, if you could help me with Korra I would appreciate it. I find that I am having trouble getting through to her." He said.

"Don't worry, Tenzin. I'll do my best. We're in this together."

At that, I turned and walked out of the hall and into the courtyard, only to see Korra sitting on the steps leading down to the training area.

"Mind if I join you?" I said.

"What do you want, Takeo?" She asked.

Hey, I didn't do anything. Why the attitude?

"Come on, I didn't do anything." I said, defensively. She shook her head and continued staring out at the horizon. I sat down next to her and stretched my feet out.

"Quit being a baby." I said, teasing her. I poked her on her arm, hoping to get a smile out of her.

"I'm not a baby."

"Well, you're pouting like one. "

"I'm annoyed."

"I can see that."

She huffed. "If you're gonna get snarky with me, you can leave."

Wow. She was really annoyed.

"Don't be like that. Tenzin's just trying to do what's best for you. You know that." I tried to reason with her, but she wasn't having it.

"What's best for me? That's all I've been hearing since I was five years old! Nobody ever thinks about what _I_ want." She said. I didn't interrupt her, instead opting to listen to my new friend.

"All my life I've been cooped up in that compound back home and now he wants to keep me on this island. It's not fair! How can I be the Avatar if I can't see the world?" She continued. Before I could say anything in response, we were interrupted by a female Air Acolyte.

"Oh, Mister Takeo! I didn't think I would find you here. Master Tenzin asked that both you and Avatar Korra meet him in the training compound in five minutes."

"Thank you, Ma'am." I said. She smiled and walked off. I had started to like the Air Acolytes here. They were all friendly and... peaceful. I got up from the steps and looked at Korra who was still sitting.

"So, are you coming or am I gonna have to drag you out of here with you on my back?" I extended my hand out to her to help her up out of the bed.

"You wouldn't dare." She said looking up at me.

**AIR TEMPLE ISLAND TRAINING COMPOUND**

We made our way towards compound, talking quietly about one of the Pro Bending teams that had gotten knocked out the night before. For someone who had never seen a game in her life, she sure knew a lot about the sport. As we reached the compound, Tenzin and the three kids were there waiting for us. I could see Ikki jumping in the air and Meelo holding his father's hand. Jinora had her head down in a book, but closed it once she saw the two of us approaching. As we got closer and closer to the four airbenders, I had started to feel nervous. It was a little weird to have something to look forward to.

Tenzin, Jinora and Ikki greeted us and Meelo moved over and stood next to me. Tenzin began to speak to Korra, while I was immersed in my own conversation about lychee juice with Ikki and Meelo.

"So, my mother informed me that you've never been able to Airbend." Tenzin said. Korra sighed loudly and stopped walking.

"Yeah, but I don't know why, the other elements came so easily to me. But every single time I've tried Airbending...nothing." She put her hands on her hips and sighed loudly again.

"That's perfectly alright, we just need to be patient. Often the element that's most difficult for the Avatar to master is the one most opposite to the Avatar's personality. For Aang, it was Earthbending," Tenzin began rolling down Korra's sleeve to their proper lengths.

"Yeah, well, I'm about as opposite an Airbender as you can get." She said dejectedly. Tenzin patted her on the back and turned to me.

"And you, Takeo. We've seen that your problem is the opposite of Korra's. You're able to Airbend but you can't control it." I nodded in agreement. I had never thought about it that way.

Boy, Tenzin sure had a lot of work to do getting both of us in shape.

"Right, let's begin our first lesson." He said.

"Korra and Takeo are gonna airbend!" Ikki yelled, airbending herself into the air. I wondered if I would be able to do that one day.

We ended up walking down a set of stairs, quickly approaching something that looked like…gates...?

I honestly had no idea what the hell they were. Looking at Korra, I guessed that she was equally as puzzled as I was because she was the first one to ask Tenzin what they were.

"What is that contraption?"

"It's a time-honored tool that teaches the most fundamental aspect of Airbending. Jinora, would you like to explain this exercise?" Tenzin said, turning to Jinora. The girl closed her book, stepped forward and began explaining what we had to do.

"The goal is to weave your way through the gates and make it to the other side without touching them."

"Seems easy enough." Korra said, with a smirk on her face. I agreed. It didn't look _that _difficult.

"Jinora forgot to say you have to make it through while the gates are spinning!" Ikki said quickly, still jumping in the air. I could've sworn she had been jumping non-stop for close to ten minutes now.

"The key is to be like the leaf. Flow with the movement of the gates."

After Jinora had finished explaining, Tenzin bent a powerful gust of wind at the gates causing them to all spin rapidly.

That didn't look easy at all.

He held up a small leaf in his hand, and air bent the leaf towards the rapidly spinning gates. I watched in awe as it ebbed and flowed throughout the gates, not once touching them. So, that's what Tenzin meant. I looked over at Korra who was more interested in one of the lemurs in the sky. I was interested in seeing how this would play out for the both of us.

"And now, Jinora will demonstrate."

Jinora stepped into the gates and nimbly moved through the gates one by one, not once touching the sides. It seemed like she was spinning and turning as needed. After about thirty seconds she had emerged unscathed on the other side. She looked at the five of us on the other side and I gave her a thumbs up.

I was impressed. The girl was skilled.

Tenzin spoke up again. "Airbending is all about spiral movements. When you meet resistance, you must be able to switch direction at a moments notice. Which one of you would like to try first?"

"I'll go first." I volunteered.

Jinora sent another gust of wind back at the gates, which restarted them. I looked to Tenzin who gave me a nod of approval and I began. Without hesitating, I stepped into the gates and echoed Tenzin's sentiment in my mind.

_Be like the leaf. _I thought.

I did my best to navigate the spinning gates the way Jinora did. It took me about a minute and a half, and I did nick myself a couple of times but somehow I had managed to go through with only a few bruises here and there. A part of the gate had clipped me on my arm, cutting me, but overall, I had gotten through it. I looked to Jinora who gave me thumbs up. We both walked around the side back to where Tenzin was.

"Very well done for your first time, Takeo." He said, patting me on the back. I looked at Korra who looked _extremely_ unimpressed. "And Korra, now it's your turn." Tenzin said, bending yet another gust of wind at the gates. Wordlessly, she walked past me and stood in front of the gates.

"Let's do this."

I wish I could say that everything went well and she got through those gates as smooth as butter. But I'd be lying. Korra being Korra, decided to completely ignore Tenzin's instructions and ran straight into the gates, headfirst. The closest panel ended up catapulting her into the second one and so on. I winced every time I heard the_ smack_ of her body connecting with the panels. I looked over at Tenzin who was also wincing.

"Korra, don't force your way through!" I said, cupping my hands over my mouth so my voice would carry. Ikki and Meelo decided to join in with a _don't force your way through_ and a _be the leaf!_

Eventually after the longest minute of my life, she emerged on the other side, only to try and sprint through once again. I think she eventually started to panic because she started spinning out of control and was catapulted against the panels once again. Only this time, it threw her out and onto the ground in front of us. Tenzin sighed and decided to end the session for the evening.

**EVENING**

After the training session I had decided to take a shower and a bit of a nap and eventually I had woken up just as the sun had begun to set. My body ached from the morning's session, but I decided to go and take a walk around the island just to familiarize myself with where I would be staying for the next little while. Humming one of my favorite songs, _Republic City Blues_, it had taken me about an hour to circle the entire island. As I had turned into the main temple compound, I saw Korra trying to airbend at a newspaper hanging up on a clothes line. I walked over to a bored Naga and patted her on her back, and watched as Korra continued to attack the poor newspaper.

"Airbend!" She said, making a fist. She tried again. "Ugh, what is wrong with me! Airbend!"

After another 10 seconds of trying to unsuccessfully airbend, she groaned in frustration and launched a fireball at the newspaper, incinerating it.

"Ugh, maybe I'm just not cut out to be an Airbender, huh, Naga?" She spun and saw me watching.

"So…how long have you been standing there?" She said as her cheeks began to turn red.

"Long enough to see you trying to Airbend." I answered her. She sighed.

"Ugh, I'm just so frustrated! I should be able to Airbend by now!" She said, walking over to a bench close by.

"Korra, today was our first session. Did you expect to start airbending straight away?" I asked her curiously.

"Well, yeah. Kinda. When I started learning the other three elements, I was bending them within an hour. It's weird not being able to now." She said.

Ah. So _that_ was her problem. Everything had always come easily to her. I scooted closer to her and decided to give her some advice I had been given several years ago.

"Ba Sing Se wasn't built in a day, you know." I said. She looked at me, confused.

"What?"

I laughed. "It's an old saying in the Earth Kingdom. It basically means, you can't expect to do certain things in a short period of time. Even if you happen to be the Avatar." She smiled and I put my arm around her and gave her a quick hug. It seemed like what she needed at the moment.

"The airbending will come. Just keep working at it and have patience, alright? I'm gonna go to the library and see if I can find a good book to read." I said.

"So, you're a reader, huh?" She asked.

"You sound surprised." I replied.

"Maybe a little. I never took you as someone who liked to read." She said. "No offence!" She added quickly.

"Too late. I am totally offended." I said, with the sternest look I could muster.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"I'm just messing with you." I said with a smile.

"You're not funny." She said. She sighed and then visibly relaxed.

I got up from the bench we were sitting on, said my goodbyes to Korra and headed towards the island's library. I entered the library and greeted one of the senior Air acolytes. He was an elderly man named Sohen. The last time I had gone to the library, I had asked him about what life was like when he was younger, to which he happily obliged. I looked around the library and decided that I had wanted to read about Korra's past lives. I asked Sohen if he could help me and after about thirty minutes of searching, we had come across an Encyclopedia detailing the lives of over 50 avatars, dating back over a four thousand years. This book was definitely something I was going to read the hell out of. I thanked Sohen and retired to my room. No sooner than two minutes after I had opened the book, I heard a knock at the door.

Who the hell could that be? There was no way it could have been an Air Acolyte. It couldn't have been Tenzin either, since I had passed him on my way to my room.

I opened the door and lo and behold it was Korra. She barged past me and shut the door quickly.

"Korra, what are you- " I began to ask. There was never a dull moment whenever she was around, I can tell you that.

"Shh, before someone hears me and realizes I'm not in my room."She said, moving over to my open window and scanning the compound. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Is it gonna get me arrested?"

I had to ask.

"No."

"So, what's the favor?" I asked, relaxing a little.

"The Fire Ferrets are playing tonight and I do seem to remember you saying that you'd take me to go watch them play." She said.

Damn it.

Damn me and my big mouth.

"Yeah, but that was before Tenzin told us that he didn't want us watching anything to do with pro-bending." I reminded her. "You're already on thin ice with him. Do you want him to airbend you back to the South Pole?" I said.

She paused and thought about my words for a moment. "...He can't do that can he?"

"Korra!" I said, getting irritated.

"Please, Takeo! This means the world to me. It would just be for a few hours. What could go wrong? You watch my back, and I'll watch yours." She said, her hands clasped as if she was begging me.

I sighed in defeat. Out of the two of us I was already considered to be the good one, the obedient one. I guess that was about to change.

"Fine." I sighed again. "Just give me a minute to change. Meet me by the cliff in fifteen minutes." I said reluctantly.

I was always happy to do things for Korra but not when it meant that I had to disobey Tenzin. I liked Tenzin and I knew he was trying his best with the both of us, but I figured that she probably would have gone with or without me anyway, so I might as well have been there to make sure she didn't get herself into too much trouble.

Shortly after Korra had left, I changed out of my night clothes into something a little more comfortable and less _itchy_. I had ended up deciding on a light jacket and a shirt underneath. The weather had been fairly mild lately, so I was sure that a light jacket and a t-shirt would have been more than enough to keep me warm.

Leaving my room, I slowly shut the room door and proceeded to tip toe down the wooden corridor of the boy's dorm. It was a little after 7:30 in the evening, so I made sure to be extra careful that there weren't any acolytes or White Lotus Guards hovering around like they tended to do. After about twenty minutes of sneaking around, and a close call with two White Lotus Guards, I had reached our rendezvous point. Korra, however, was there pacing back and forth, but looked up at me as she heard me approaching.

"There you are! What took you so long? I was almost ready to leave without you." She asked, still pacing. I grabbed her arm, so she would stop.

"Sorry. I almost got caught by the two White Lotus guards over by the main gate."

"Why did you try and go through the main gate? You could've gone through the back entrance over by the west wing. It would've saved you five minutes _and _almost getting caught."

I stared at her blankly. "There's a back entrance?"

She sighed. "Let's go."

I looked over the cliffs edge and a lump formed in my throat. It was way higher than I had remembered when I went on a tour of the island. Was it possible for cliffs to grow in a few hours?

"So, uh, how are we getting over to the Arena? I don't see any boats." I asked, still looking for any sign of a boat in the area.

Korra looked at me deviously. "Master Waterbender remember?"

Oh no.

I knew what that look meant.

That was the same look I had gotten just before we had gotten arrested.

"Wait, Korra, I'm not so sure-"

She grabbed my hand before I could protest further and launched the both of us over the edge of the cliff. In mid air, she extended her arms out and created a funnel of water, catching the two of us with ease. As two of us entered the water, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I sure as hell was expecting it to be so _cold_. Clearly, the shock of being catapulted off of a cliff's edge by my waterbending companion had worn off.

"Oh, man, this was my favorite jacket." I complained, as we swam towards the arena. This was not how I thought my night was going to go.

"Don't worry, I'll dry you off once we get there." She began swimming faster and I followed her, struggling to keep up. I looked up into the sky and sighing for what had to be the fiftieth time in the space of ten minutes. The things you do for friendship, huh?

**REPUBLIC CITY PRO-BENDING ARENA**

I was soaking wet, cold and I was standing in one of the many private hallways in the pro-bending arena. I wasn't sure how we had managed to sneak in the arena so easily, as there were usually security guards scattered everywhere. Korra had already water bent herself dry. I looked at her, waiting.

"What?"

"So, are you gonna do your waterbending thing and dry me off or am I gonna be walking around here smelling like a dumpster?" I asked, smelling my hands. It smelled like…on second thought, never mind. Korra folded her arms and smirked at me with one of her trademark smirks.

"I was just waiting for you to ask." She said. I looked up at the ceiling and then looked at her, already exasperated.

"Seriously?" She chuckled and with a quick flick of her wrist she bent all of the bay water out of my clothes and off my skin.

"Thank you." I said sarcastically.

We ended up walking for a bit, taking a tour of the place until we found an open doorway leading into a large gym. Korra walked in and began bending one of the weights.

"Put that down before someone finds us in here." I warned.

"Okay, Mr. Party Pooper." She said sarcastically, dropping the weights with a loud clang. I cringed and made a face.

"Two Yuans somebody heard that."

"What? You're crazy, there's no way anybody could have possibly-" As expected she didn't get to finish _and_ she now owed me two Yuans.

"Hey! What are you doing in my gym?" We both jumped as we heard the voice behind us. We turned around to find an elderly man staring at us.

He was pretty ripped for an old guy, I gave him that. I needed to think fast before we both got kicked out.

"I…uh." I grabbed Korra's hand and held it in mine. "My uh...girlfriend and I were looking for the bathroom and we got a little lost."

I leaned in a little closer to the older man. "You see, she's got a bit of a gas problem..." I cringed as Korra stomped on my foot. Her face was red and I knew immediately that I was gonna pay for that one later.

The old guy, however, didn't buy it.

"Oh, yeah? Well you can take your gassy girlfriend to security for all I care." He replied, angrily.

Korra stomped on my foot again. This time even harder. The old guy continued with his rant.

"You know, I'm sick and tired of you kids sneaking in and not paying! I'm taking you in to security right now."

Korra let go of my hand immediately and followed the guy.

"No, wait!" She called after him.

"There you two are!" This time it was a younger guy standing in the gym hallway." I've been looking everywhere for you guys. It's alright Toza, they're with me." He said. He had pro-bending gear on, so I guessed he was actually a_llowed _to be in the gym.

Toza grunted something unintelligible and walked off, picking up one of his weights and lifting it. I walked over to the guy who had just saved Korra and I and thanked him.

"Thanks, man. I thought we were sitting turtle ducks back there." I said, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, seriously. Thanks." Korra chimed in.

"Don't mention it." He said. "So, I'm guessing you guys aren't here to use the gym. Follow me." We followed him through a door into a locker room facing the entire pro-bending arena.

"You owe me two yuans." I whispered in Korra's ear.

"Shut up!" She replied quickly. Ironically, Korra was the one to shut up as we both caught the view from the room the boy had led us in to. We were at the very top of the arena. It was amazing.

"So, what do you think? Best seats in the house, huh?" He asked as he saw how impressed we both were. I had been to a couple pro-bending matches before, but I was never able to afford the good seats since those ran for a couple thousand Yuans each. The view was incredible from up here.

"Whoa! It's unbelievable! This place is even more amazing than I imagined." Korra said, practically giddy. I had never seen Korra so excited. She was like a kid in a candy store.

"Don't mention it. The name's Bolin by the way." The boy said. Korra introduced herself first, somehow managing to not ever take her eyes off of the match going on down below. I stuck a hand out and introduced myself next. Bolin took it and shook it vigorously.

"Hey, Don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked, staring at me.

From my experience with the triads, it was never good when someone thought that they "knew you from somewhere". Thinking about it, he did look a little familiar, but not because he was a pro-bender. I decided to play dumb.

"Uh, I don't think so?" I said nervously.

"Yeah, I do. I used to see you on the streets all the time- "

"So, how are you guys doing in the championship?" I said changing the subject quickly. I looked over at Korra who began pumping her fists at something that was going on down below. Judging by the crowd's hysteria it must've been good. She leaned over the railing to get a better look and thankfully my question seemed to distract Bolin.

"Not the greatest, but not the worst. We've won the last 2 games, but just barely." He said, looking out past the balcony. " Say...you don't happen to be a waterbender do you?" He asked. He seemed hopeful.

"Sorry, buddy." I replied.

He deflated a little. "What about your girlfriend over there?"

I went red.

"Who? Korra? No, She's not my girlfriend. Just friends. Back there with that old guy in the gym, I kinda had to think of something on the spot. I went with the first thing that came into my head." Bolin looked at me curiously but didn't say anything. I mean, sure I liked Korra but I didn't like her like that.

At least I didn't think I did.

The door opened and two guys entered the room with their pro-bending gear on. They both looked pissed about something. The spiky haired one called over to Bolin.

"Psst, Bolin. What did I tell you about bringing your crazy fans in here before the matches? Get them out of here." He said.

Alright, so spiky hair was a bit of an dick.

"Ah, come on Mako! Look, I kinda told them that they could stay. But man, I've got a good feeling about them! Especially Korra over there." He said, pointing to Korra who was still engrossed in the match. He called over Korra and I to meet the guy he was talking to.

"Korra, Takeo. This is my brother, Mako.". Bolin said, introducing his brother to the two of us. Korra smiled.

"Mako? Wow, I heard you play on the radio-" Korra said, holding out her hand for him to shake it. Instead of acknowledging her, he barged past the two of us while telling Bolin to hurry up.

"I guess we'll meet him later then." Korra said.

"I guess so" I agreed.

Bolin turned to us and apologized.

"Sorry about my brother. He's not usually like that. He just gets real…focused before a match." He said.

Moments later, the radio announcer began introducing the two teams.

"Anyway, I better get out there." Bolin said, putting on his helmet. "Wish me luck, not that I'll need it." He finished, before stepping out onto the platform. He seemed like a stand-up guy and strangely enough, I was already starting to like him.


	3. III

**Chapter III**

**REPUBLIC CITY PROBENDING ARENA**

**170 AG**

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the fiftieth annual Major League Pro-Bending Playoffs!" The announcer said, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. No sooner than a minute after Bolin, his brother and the Waterbender had walked off towards the playing field, the atmosphere of the entire arena had shifted immensely in anticipation of the game that was about to start.

I hadn't really been following the whole Pro-Bending thing as of late, but I had heard tidbits here and there about the Fire Ferrets and how quickly they had been rising through the ranks. Plus, if Bolin's confidence had anything to do with it, I was sure that these guys lived up to the hype.

After watching the Fire Ferrets disappear down the lift, I looked out into the crowd and marveled at the sheer amount of people sitting in the stands. I couldn't even begin to count the amount of people that had come out to see this match. After a few more moments of taking everything in, I looked over at Korra, and I couldn't help but notice how fascinated she was by everything. I was pretty sure she hadn't moved a muscle since The Fire Ferrets had left to go on to the playing field.

"So, what do you think?" I asked. Korra looked over at me and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something, but the collective roar of the arena captured the attention of us both.

"In the red corner, ranked thirteenth in the World Championships, The Red Sands Rabaroos!" The announcer said, garnering sparse applause from the Republic City crowd. Being from so far away in the Eastern Earth Kingdom, they didn't really have a lot of supporters down here, so to be polite (and out of pity), I clapped softly for them.

"What are you doing?!" Korra asked, as she put her hands over mine to stop me from clapping. "Don't clap for the enemy!"

"The enemy?" I asked.

She was _really_ into this, wasn't she? I wondered if I should have been worried or not.

"And in the blue corner, Republic City's very own_ Fire Ferrets_!" The announcer said next. The applause for the Fire Ferrets was deafening and Korra and I joined in as we saw the Fire Ferrets descending onto the large platform.

As the Fire Ferrets stepped onto the playing field and took their places, I glanced over at Korra again. I wasn't exactly thrilled that we had gone behind Tenzin's back to see the game, but something about Korra's excitement made me realize that potentially getting in trouble with Tenzin was one hundred percent worth it. Seconds later, the first whistle was blown and the game began with both teams launching relentless attacks at each other. I could tell that both the Fire Ferrets _and _The Rabaroos were hungry for that championship spot. However, as the seconds ticked by, I couldn't help but notice a little _problem. _

Or a big problem, depending on how you looked at it.

I was more of a _glass half-full _kind of guy anyway.

From what I could see, Mako and Bolin were dodging and counter-attacking all of the attacks that were being thrown at them, but their teammate, the Waterbender...not so much. It seemed like every other second, he was tripping over himself or crashing into the field's side netting. If he kept this up, he was definitely going to get knocked straight into the-

There it was.

After a particularly brutal attack from the Rabaroo's Firebender, the Waterbender got knocked into the pool, leaving Mako and Bolin down a man. I shook my head and groaned in frustration at how clumsy the guy was. If I hadn't known any better, I would've believed that he had only started bending a week ago.

He was _that_ bad.

About a minute later, and with Mako and Bolin doing their best to stay in the game, the Waterbender returned to the playing field, and somehow he had managed to play even _worse_ than he already had been.

"Gah! That guy has got to be the worst Waterbender I've ever seen!" I yelled, making Korra nudge me in the side with her elbow.

"Be nice!" She replied sharply, but paused after the Waterbender tripped and stumbled into the side netting for what had to have been the hundredth time that evening.

"Yeah, you're right. He is pretty awful." She agreed. No sooner had the words left Korra's mouth, the Waterbender had gotten hit by a flurry of attacks from the Rabaroo's Waterbender and ended up collapsing into Bolin, knocking them both into the pool below them.

"Oh, no," Korra muttered as we watched Mako get bombarded with attacks. With Bolin and the Waterbender out, and it being the last round of the game, I was sure that Mako was going to need a _miracle_ to pull this one off. I had no idea how he was going to do it, but a small part of me had hoped that he would.

So, imagine my shock seeing Mako turn the game around and single-handedly take down all three Rabaroos in just under a minute! It was like he was a completely different person! His movement, his combos...I had never seen anyone move like that, especially being down two teammates! I had no idea how he had done it, but somehow the guy had managed to knock all three of his opponents into the drink!

"Did you see that?!" Korra exclaimed. "Did you see that?! How-? That was amazing! _He's _amazing!"

"Yeah, that was pretty impressive," I agreed. He may have been a bit of an ass, but I had to admit, that Mako guy had some _serious_ skills on the field.

It was strange. Both him and Bolin had seemed to have had their heads in the game but their Waterbending buddy, did not. I couldn't help but wonder if it was a one off thing or if the guy really was _that_ awful all the time.

I'd have to ask Bolin about that.

**-0-**

"Woohoo! One more for the Fire Ferrets! We're so close to that championship, I can taste it." Bolin said, pumping his fists in the air as he burst into the change room minutes later. He walked over to where the two of us were standing with the cheesiest grin that I had ever seen.

"So, what'dya think Korra? Bolin's got some _moves_, huh?" He continued, smiling at her. It was becoming pretty obvious that Bolin had a bit of a thing for Korra, as he wasn't exactly being subtle about it.

Not that I cared, of course.

I rolled my eyes at Bolin's attempt at flirting or _whatever_ it was that he had just tried to do, and watched as he continued trying it on with Korra. But of course, with Korra being Korra, she was completely oblivious to what was going on. I had a feeling that she was way more preoccupied with the match that had just ended.

"What did I think? What did I think?!" She said as she grabbed Bolin by his collar.

"That was amazing! Right, Takeo?" She said, pushing Bolin away and turning her attention to me. I had barely heard her before Mako and the terrible Waterbender walked into the room. They were arguing about something and it didn't sound good.

"You did more harm than good out there! What the hell is wrong with you, Hasook?" Mako said, tossing his gloves on the side bench. Hasook rolled his eyes and walked over to his locker.

"We won, didn't we?" He said, brushing Mako off.

"Barely! You could've cost us that championship place!" Mako said, earning a glare from Hasook. I could tell that Mako's comment had set him off.

"What are you trying to say?" He asked, his voice threateningly low.

"I'm saying that you're a sorry excuse for a bender!" Mako yelled. Now, even though I wasn't Mako's biggest fan, I found myself agreeing with him because let's be honest, we were _all_ thinking it. Hasook really _was_ the saddest excuse for a Waterbender that I had ever seen. During the match, it looked like he had barely even wanted to be there. Hell, I could've done a better job at Waterbending and I wasn't even a Waterbender!

At Mako's comment, Hasook glared at Mako and then at the rest of us.

"You know what?" He said, undoing the clasp at the back of his helmet. "Screw this. I've had it with you people! I'm outta here."

Hasook threw his helmet onto the bench and then proceeded to storm out of the room. Mako shook his head and then muttered something to himself about how useless Hasook was before turning his attention to Korra and I.

"Oh, you two are still here?" He asked, turning his back on us and putting his gear into a locker.

"We just wanted to congratulate you on the win. You were pretty amazing out there-" Korra began.

"Yeah, whatever." He said, completely brushing her off.

"You know, a simple_ thanks_ would've been nice," I said. How much of an asshole was this guy? She was _complementing_ him for spirits sake! Mako turned around, shrugged his shoulders at me and went back to doing whatever he was doing, irritating me even more.

"What's your problem, man?" I snapped, moving towards the Firebender. I had only managed to move a couple of steps towards Mako before Korra stepped in front of me, stopping me from getting any closer to the obnoxious Firebender.

"So, Bolin, you were pretty great out there too," She said, changing the subject. I think she had sensed how heated things were becoming between Mako and I. Bolin grinned in response and winked at her.

"I was, wasn't I?" He replied. "You know, during the second round I thought..."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the two of them before walking over to the balcony that overlooked the arena. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself, thinking back to some of the meditation techniques I had read about in the airbending scrolls that Tenzin had given Korra and I.

Unfortunately, the scrolls weren't exactly clear on how to deal with obnoxious Pro-Bending players.

Letting another deep breath out, I continued to watch on as the last of the spectators filed out of the arena one by one. They looked like spider-ants from up here and it really put into perspective just how _huge_ the arena really was. After a few more minutes of gazing out into the stands I heard footsteps behind me, and felt someone touch my upper arm. I turned around to see who it was, and smiled as I saw the culprit.

"You okay?" She asked, with concern etched across her face. I nodded my head.

"I'm good. Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Well, Bolin wanted to show me a few Earthbending moves before we left," Korra said, making me raise my eyebrows.

He knew she was the Avatar?

"Don't worry, they both know I'm the Avatar." She said answering my question. I looked down at my watch and noted the time. Nine o'clock. If we weren't careful, someone was going to notice that we were missing.

"Please? It'll only be for half an hour and then I promise we can leave." She said, seemingly reading my mind once again.

I sighed and nodded my head. She squeezed my arm and headed back into the change room.

**-0-**

We followed Bolin back to the gym and I took a seat on one of the benches away from where all the bending would be taking place. The idea of dodging pro-bending disks and potentially getting a black eye didnt seem too appealing to me, so sitting as far away as possible from those two seemed like the best option.

As I watched Korra and Bolin practicing, I couldn't help but dwell on how angry Mako had made me earlier. I wasn't exactly sure why, but that Mako guy had really rubbed me the wrong way.

"Mind if I join you?" Mako said from behind me and without waiting for me to respond, he took a seat on the bench.

Speak of the devil.

"You're not gonna be an asshole, are you?" I asked. I was tempted to say _Yeah, pal, I do mind, _but instead I opted to take the civil route and continued to watch Bolin and Korra do their Earthbending thing.

"Nah, I think I'm done for the night." Mako said, letting out a chuckle. I looked at him and frowned.

"Anyway...I, uh, came by to apologize for the way I treated you guys this evening. I've just been a little frustrated lately with our teammate, Hasook," Mako said, taking me by surprise. I hadn't expected him to apologize.

"Yeah, he wasn't exactly your star player out there tonight," I said, still not looking away from Bolin and Korra.

"That's why we let him go," Mako said. "Or rather, that's why he let _himself _go. You saw the way he stomped outta that change room," He said, making me laugh.

So the stoic Firebender _did _have a sense of humor.

"So, no hard feelings?" Mako said, holding out his hand. I took his hand and shook it. We sat in silence for a moment before he began talking again.

"You know, you look pretty familiar," He said, as he looked at me. There were over five million people in Republic City a_lone. _Unless I had an evil twin running around the city that I didn't know about, I had a hard time believing that he _or _Bolin had actually seen me before.

"Funnily enough, your brother said the same thing," I answered, trying to mask the irritation in my voice.

"Did you grow up here in Republic City?" Mako asked.

"Kinda. I moved out here when I was kid. What about you guys?"

"Same." He said quickly.

A little too quickly, actually. He frowned and then leaned back against the wall and that's when it clicked. I _had_ seen these guys around town before. Back in my Triad days, I would run numbers for some of the higher ranking Triads with a group of kids around my age. I had never really interacted with most of the kids, but we all reported to the same person. That must've been where I had seen Mako, as his seriousness and general aura of moodiness was something that I remembered. How had I not recognized him before?

"Wait, I think I _do_ know you," I lowered my voice. "You ran numbers for the Triple Threats, right? I used to see you around all the time running numbers for Shan and those guys,"

I seriously couldn't believe I hadn't recognized them before, but then again, I would only see them briefly every once in awhile.

Mako's eyes, went wide and he looked around the room frantically, as if there were cops there ready to book him in at any moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He said, quickly.

"Don't worry. I get it," I reassured him. "I was a part of it too. Got out a few years ago." I said. I glanced over at Korra, realizing that I hadn't exactly told her yet. Besides, _what_ would I even tell her?

_Hey, Korra. I used to scam people out of their hard earned money! _Or _Hey, Korra. I used to hang out with criminals! I even used to be one myself!_

Yeah, that would definitely have gone down well. Korra was far from stupid, and even though I was sure she had her suspicions, she would put two and two together eventually. I really wasn't look forward to that day.

Mako shook his head and sighed. "It was...a long time ago. We don't run with those guys anymore," He said. I leaned back against the wall too and looked at him.

"Hey man, you don't have to explain yourself to me. We've all done things we're not proud of." I said.

"Well, it's good to have someone here who gets the struggle." He said, patting me on the shoulder awkwardly.

"Likewise."

The two of us settled into a fairly awkward silence for a few moments before Mako spoke up again.

"So, are you part of the White Lotus or something?" Mako asked.

"What? No." I said. "What makes you think that?" I asked.

"You're with the _Avatar." _He said. "Now, I don't know much about how any of that stuff works, but I_ do_ know that she's protected by those White Lotus guys every minute of every day."

I glanced over again at Korra who was now listening to Bolin. I hadn't known her for very long, but she never seemed _this_ into what Tenzin would tell her. Whenever Tenzin went on his spiels about the importance of the spiritual side of bending, I could always tell she would mentally check out.

"Nah, I'm just a...friend," I said, struggling to find a word. Is that what we were? Again, I hadn't known her for very long, but _friend_ seemed to be the most appropriate. "We're training together," I added.

"That's some luck right there. Training Earthbending with the _Avatar_ of all people." He said, seemingly impressed.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not an Earthbender," I said. "That would have been pretty cool though."

At my words, a look of confusion spread across Mako's face, and I couldn't help but enjoy it.

"Oh. I just assumed...you know, the hair and the eyes...you just look...like an...Earthbender," He stumbled, making me smile.

"It's cool, I get that a lot." I replied, purposely not offering up any additional information.

Like I said, I was enjoying it.

Mako scratched his head.

"Wait, if you're not an Earthbender, that leaves Firebending and Waterbending, and I know for a fact that you're _not_ a Firebender," He said.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked. "I could be the greatest Firebender you've ever met."

"_I'm _a Firebender, so I have a knack for knowing when other people are too," He replied.

"Firebender's intuition, huh?" I said.

"Exactly," He said, pausing for a moment. "So spill it. What _are_ you?"

"I'm an Airbender," I said. I watched as he furrowed his eyebrows, as if he was processing what I had just said.

"You're screwing with me," He said, finally. I shook my head with a smile on my face.

"Tell you what, the next time I see you, I'll fill you in." I said, sticking out my hand. "Deal?"

He took my hand and shook it. Just as we were shaking, I turned my attention to Korra who had just launched two Earthbending disks perfectly at the net. I couldn't help but smile at seeing how naturally gifted she was at bending.

The same couldn't exactly have been said about me, but I _was_ trying.

"Wow, nice adjustment! Korra, you're a natural at this!" Bolin said excitedly. Korra turned to me, with a _you saw that, right?_ look plastered across her face.

"Not bad." Mako said, getting up from his spot beside me and leaning on a ladder that I assumed went up to an attic or something. Korra put her hands on her hips and frowned at Mako.

"What's it take to impress this guy?" She asked Bolin.

"What? I said not bad," Mako said, defending himself. "You know what? It's getting late and I think I'm gonna turn in. You kids have fun. Nice to meet you Takeo, and _Avatar_ Korra." He said, putting a lot of emphasis on the _Avatar_ part before disappearing up into the attic. I nodded my head and Korra waved at him sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's been a real pleasure," She responded.

After watching Mako disappear up the ladder, I took my watch out of my pocket and checked the time.

_Ten past ten._ We had been there for a lot longer than the half an hour that Korra had initially promised.

_Oh, don't worry Takeo, we'll only be here for another half hour! Tenzin's totally not going to dropkick us back to our rooms when he finds out we blatantly disobeyed him! _

Well, that was a LIE.

Realizing that it _really_ was time to end our little adventure and head back to the island before someone realized we were missing, I put my watch back into my pocket and walked over to Korra who was now trying out a new move Bolin had shown her.

"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt the training session but," I looked at Korra. "we should probably head back." I said, tapping my finger on my wrist. Korra's face changed into one of disappointment and she sighed.

"Takeo's right. I gotta go." She said, dropping the Earthbending disks to the ground.

"Well, if you guys aren't doing anything tomorrow after your training, why don't you both come down here and catch our match tomorrow?" Bolin said. "I'll even make sure Toza doesn't give you any crap about being up here too."

Korra's eyes lit up again and she responded before I could object.

"Are you serious?" She asked. "We'd love that!"

I sighed once again and looked up at the gym's ceiling.

_Tenzin's gonna kill us. _I thought.

**-0-**

After being escorted out of the arena by Bolin, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the island as discreetly as we possibly could.

Saying that, there really wasn't anything discreet about two teenagers waterbending themselves across the Bay of Republic City at fifty miles an hour, but I figured with Korra around, this was the best I was going to get. After drying off, we stopped at the cliff edge overlooking the city and stared out into the horizon.

"So, was that everything you were hoping for?" I asked, as I too, gazed out into the city. The view from where we were truly was incredible and in that moment, it was if I didn't have a care in the world. It was amazing to see how bright and lively the city still was after dark.

"It was more than I expected! I can't believe I got to see a pro-bending match in person," Korra said. She smiled and hugged me tightly. "Thank you," She said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For taking the time to come with me,"

"I did promise you, didn't I?" I said. Her face dropped at that, and I inwardly cursed myself.

"I said something stupid, didn't I?"

"No, it's not you. It's just..." She trailed off, and I waited for her to continue. "I've always had people promising me things, and you're probably the only person other than Tenzin that's actually followed through with it."

"Well, what are friends for, right? You can count on me." I said, sticking my hand out for her to shake it. She smiled and took my hand.

"Good to know," She said. A few moments later, she paused and look up at me, with a look that I couldn't decipher.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.

"So, I've got a gas problem, huh?" She said, lifting an eyebrow and taking a step towards me.

You know, I had _really_ hoped she had forgotten about that. Thinking quickly, I pulled out my pocket watch and pretended to look at the time.

"Wow! It sure is getting late!" I said, laughing nervously. "Goodnight!"

I ran off and made sure to try and get to my room as fast as I possibly could.

"This isn't over, Takeo!" She said, as I ran off.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

* * *

The following morning, it had taken me awhile to wake up since me and a certain _someone _had been up when we shouldn't have been. For our airbending lesson today, Tenzin had wanted Korra and I at the training compound bright and early to take another stab at the airbending gates. After getting Jinora to give another demonstration on the technique she used to maneuver her way through them, he turned to me and gestured at the gates.

"Now, I want _you_ to restart the gates, Takeo," Tenzin said, as the gates had come to a stop. I looked at the gates and then back at Tenzin.

"Uh, Tenzin. I can't bend, remember?" I reminded him.

"Not with that attitude you can't!" Ikki said, jumping about ten feet into the air.

"Ikki's right, Takeo. You know the basic forms, now its time for the end product." Tenzin said. I looked at him again, still unsure.

"I don't know..." I trailed off. The last time I had purposely tried to airbend, Beifong had almost thrown me in jail, so forgive me for not being too _confident _in my abilities.

"Come on, City Boy, just give it a try," Korra said, using the nickname for me she had whenever she wanted to tease me.

"Alright, but if I fall flat on my face you guys aren't allowed to laugh. Especially you, little man!" I said, scooping Meelo up and tickling him. He squealed as I picked him and airbended himself out of my arms all while giggling.

"No promises!" Korra retorted with a smirk. I could've also sworn I had seen Tenzin crack a smile, but he quickly recovered and motioned for me to continue on with what he had instructed me to do.

I got into one of the airbending forms that Tenzin had taught us and extended my arms out. I centrered myself and took a deep breath, and as if on cue a small gust of wind escaped from my palms. It wasn't powerful at all but it was something! I was officially an Airbender! No more of that random nonsense! _This_ was actually the real deal!

"Shit! I mean…Wow!...I did it! I can bend!" The three kids cheered and Tenzin had a smile on his face. Even Korra looked a little impressed.

"Would you look at that," Tenzin said. "It looks like we have another Airbender in our midst," He said.

_You're damn right, you've got another Airbender in your midst! _I thought.

This was huge for me. As someone who had never really experienced bending in their life, it was a strange but welcome feeling. I didn't know how to describe it, but it felt _right. _

"Alright Korra, now that Takeo has started the gates, we will be doing the exercise that we did yesterday." Tenzin said. Korra nodded her head and stepped in front of the gates.

"Remember, to get through the gates you must ebb and flow through them. Like the leaf." He continued on while simultaneously bending a powerful gust of wind at the gates. It was always amazing to see him bend with such ease. I hoped I'd get to that level one day.

At that moment, everything seemed so peaceful. The air, save for the bending gates, was still and the six of us seemed to be relishing in the moment.

However, It didn't take long for the peace to be shattered because within five seconds of entering the gates, Korra had been tossed out of them. This continued for about two more minutes before she came out of the gate fuming and her hair sticking up in random places.

It would have been hilarious, if she wasn't so terrifying.

Somehow, the five of us had simultaneously made sure to back up a few steps and keep our distance from the frustrated Avatar. For the third time in the span of three minutes, Korra exhaled angrily and dashed towards the gates, only to get slammed against one of them and thrown out once again.

I cringed as she landed on her back. That was _definitely _going to hurt in the morning. I looked over at Tenzin who looked visibly agitated at his student, but offered her support nonetheless.

"Patience, Korra." He reminded her.

She tumbled again, but instead of trying once more, she completely lost it. She threw a flurry of punches, and unleashed dozens of fireballs at the gates. As if that wasn't enough, she decided to finish the gate off with a massive explosive attack, completely obliterating it.

We all stood there in shock at a panting Korra who was now stood in the middle of the flaming wreckage.

She looked like a crazy person.

Tenzin was the first to speak, but even he had trouble getting words out. I had never seen a facial expression change from shock to anger so quickly.

It had to have been a world record.

"I...you..." He stuttered. I could've sworn that I had seen the veins in his neck popping out. Finally, after a moment, he caught himself. "You destroyed a two thousand year old historical treasure! What is wrong with you?!"

His question seemed to infuriate Korra even more and she lashed out at him.

"There's nothing wrong with me! I've been practicing just like you taught me, but it isn't sinking in, okay?! It hasn't clicked like you said it would!" Korra shot back. She was practically yelling at this point.

Tenzin sighed and honestly, it looked like he had aged about ten years in the last minute and a half.

"Korra, this isn't something you can force. If you would only listen to me-" He started, only to be interrupted by the fuming Avatar.

"I have been! But you know what I think? Maybe the problem isn't me! Maybe the reason I haven't learned Airbending yet is because you're a terrible teacher!" She said, before storming off.

"Ugh." Tenzin said, rubbing his forehead. I shook my head as I watched Korra stalk off to wherever it was that she was going.

"If you're willing, Takeo. We can continue the lesson." Tenzin said, after a few moments of silence.

"Without Korra?" I asked, staring at the burning pile of rubble in front of me.

Well, I guess we weren't going to practicing with _those _gates any time soon.

"Korra needs time to cool down. I'll speak with her later." He said. "Now, let's move on to the Jang-Bu form. Named after a very wise Air Nomad who lived over a thousand years ago, the Jang-Bu form..."

**EVENING**

* * *

After my training session with Tenzin, I had tried to find Korra, but she refused talk to me. After multiple attempts, I had ended up getting the hint that she was going out of her way to avoid me.

So, with nothing to do, I had decided to catch up on some of my readings about some of the past Avatars. Funnily enough, I had gotten to a chapter about a hotheaded Avatar from the Northern WaterTribe, named Kuruk. His story, while not as in depth as the other Avatar's I had read about, was fascinating. Apparently, in his younger years, he was known as the 'brash and impulsive Avatar'.

You know, I was _really _starting to wonder if this was a WaterTribe thing.

Unfortunately, my musing was interrupted, as I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. Before I could respond, the door opened.

"Can I come in?" Korra said, without waiting for my response. Wordlessly, I put down my book and gave her my full attention.

Huh.

So the Avatar had decided to finally grace me with her presence after an evening of ignoring me. Wonderful.

"So, about that championship game tonight. What time did you wanna leave?" She asked. I looked at her and wondered if she was serious. She had been ignoring me for the entire day and now she wanted me to go to the arena with her?

"Oh, so you're talking to me now?" I asked.

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at me. "I wasn't _not_ talking to you."

"Wow, if that was you talking to me, I really don't want to see what your version of the silent treatment is." I said, sarcastically. She frolled her eyes at me again and frowned.

"So what time are we leaving?" She said, completely ignoring me. I looked at her again and crossed my arms.

"We're not," I said.

"What?" She asked.

_Okay, Takeo, tread lightly here. _I thought. _She's already in a bad mood because of this morning, try not make it worse. _

"Well, I thought about it and maybe it's not the best idea to sneak out two nights in a row." I said.

That was an excuse.

I just wasn't in the mood to go out with her after the way she had been treating me.

Her face changed immediately.

"So, you're just going to bail on me on the night of the championship? Really?" She asked, her voice laced with irritation.

"Well, when you say it like that it makes me sound like an asshole," I said. It came out way more sarcastic than I wanted it to.

"Yeah, that was my intention," She said, crossing her arms and looking up at the ceiling.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What's your _problem _anyway? You've been weird with me since our Airbending lesson this morning."

She turned her head away from and didn't say anything.

Wait. No way.

There was no way that she was upset that I had started bending first.

"This doesn't have anything to do with me airbending before you, does it?" I asked. She didn't answer and instead opted to crossing her arms and pouting like a little kid.

She was jealous that I had started bending first! It would have been hilarious, if it wasn't so damned _infuriating. _Don't get me wrong, I understood why she was upset, but what I couldn't wrap my head around was why she was upset with _me. _

"Seriously? You're upset with me because I started airbending first? How old are you, five?" I asked, trying my best to hide the smile on my face. The _Avatar_ was throwing a tantrum because I airbended and she hadn't.

"Well, maybe I'm upset that I've spent years trying to airbend and then all of a sudden you just come out of nowhere and start bending! You have no idea what it's like to struggle!" She yelled.

That made me mad. _She _was the one that had no idea!

"Oh, little Miss Avatar doesn't know how to Airbend! You have no idea what I've been through!" I said, doing my best to keep calm. The Avatar however was making it extremely difficult.

"You know what? Maybe you'd start airbending if you'd actually listen to Tenzin instead of destroying two thousand year old artifacts! Get over yourself!" I continued.

"So, you're blaming me for this?" She said, raising her voice slightly. I could've sworn that I could see her fists steaming.

"Well, I'm not going to blame Naga now, am I?" I said. "You know what your problem is, Korra? You've been coddled your entire life. From the moment you were born, you've had everything handed to you and now you have no idea how to work hard for the things that you want."

I won't lie, the death glare she had given me at that moment made me fear for my life, especially as I was cornered in the tiny room with no escape.

Luckily, instead of throwing fireballs at me, she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Ugh. I can't deal with you right now!" She exclaimed, her bright blue eyes piercing straight through me.

"Well, you're welcome to leave. The door's that way," I said, staring right back at her and gesturing to the door. At my words, she shook her head, turned her back and walked out of the room in a huff, slamming the door behind her. Immediately, I flopped back onto the bed and let out a groan.

Note to self:

_Try and avoid being on the receiving end of the Avatar's frustration. _

**-0-**

After my argument with Korra, I had decided to skip dinner and work on my airbending forms in the training yard. I couldn't help but replay a certain part of our argument over and over again in my head.

_When you say it like that it makes me sound like an asshole. _

_That was my intention._

Her offhand comment had triggered something inside of me that I had been trying to repress. The rational part of me knew that Korra didn't mean anything by it. Hell, she didn't know anything about my past but the irrational part of me had its doubts.

"Takeo, have you seen Korra?" Tenzin asked, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts I hadn't heard him coming. It was also a little weird how light airbenders were. You could never hear their steps.

I put my hands down and reached for the t-shirt that I had taken off.

"No, I haven't seen her since she yelled at me this afternoon," I said. Thinking about it, I _hadn't_ actually seen Korra in a while. I figured she had gone off to sulk somewhere.

"Why would she-? You know what? Never mind. Where could she be?" Tenzin said, looking confused.

"The arena, probably." I said, nonchalantly. Tenzin immediately went red and his left eye began to twitch. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"_What_ did you just say?" He asked, as if he hadn't heard me correctly.

"This afternoon she asked me to go with her to the bending arena to watch the championship game, but I told her no and we kinda got into a screaming match," I said, replaying the conversation in my head for the hundredth time that day. "Anyway, that has to be where she is."

Now, I could count the number of times I had seen Tenzin mad on two fingers, but I couldn't say that I had ever seen him as mad as he was when I told him that Korra had blatantly disobeyed his wishes. His face began to turn redder and up until that moment, I didn't know that someone's face could turn _that_ red. Paired with his shaved head, he almost looked like a really ripe moon peach.

"That girl, I'll-" He began to say, struggling to get the words out.

"Tenzin, the game's going on right now. Let's go find her." I said, ushering my (very upset) airbending master towards the stables where the sky bison were kept.

In a hurry, we exited the gates of the Air Temple and jumped on Tenzin's sky bison, Oogi. From the time we had left the Air Temple, up until actual getting into the arena, it had only taken us about fifteen minutes or so to get inside.

The perks of having a high ranking councilman as your Airbending master, I guessed.

As we entered the stands, we were immediately led onto one of the platforms that the players used to get back into the playing area by one of the ushers. We were just close enough to see Korra, but boy was it _rough_. She was getting absolutely destroyed out there, and finally after a torturous two minutes, she ended up in the pool. It was probably best for _everybody_ at that point.

As she climbed out of the pool, her face changed into one of shock.

"Takeo? What are you doing here?" She asked, with a frown on her face. That seemed to be the _only _facial expression I had been getting from her recently.

Then she saw Tenzin.

"Oh, hey Tenzin!" She said, nervously. "I thought you didn't like coming to these matches, ha ha." She laughed nervously. Tenzin, however, didn't see the funny side at all. He was absolutely livid.

Me? I was just along for the ride and enjoying the wonderful view.

I was the good student after all.

"Once again you have flagrantly disobeyed my orders. You were to stay on the island. No if's or buts. Let's go. Now." He turned around, and began to walk off as if he expected her to follow him.

"No! I'm kind of in the middle of something." Korra said defiantly, even shocking me. What was with her lately? I had never seen her so adamant on defying Tenzin like she had been.

"Korra-" I said, deciding to chime in. I figured I'd try my luck at talking some sense into her.

"Stay out of this, Takeo." She said, immediately.

Well, alright then.

I put my hands up in defence and kept quiet. Tenzin inhaled deeply and clasped his hands. The man _really_ did have the patience of a monk.

"I have tried my very best to get through to you by being gentle and patient, but clearly the only thing you respond to is force! So, I am ordering you to come back to the temple, right now!" He said, almost yelling.

"Why?! So, I can sit around and meditate at how bad I am at Airbending? You know, I'm beginning to think there is a reason I haven't been able to learn it. Because maybe I don't even need it!" She retorted.

"What? That is a ludicrous suggestion! The Avatar needs to learn Airbending; it is not optional!"

"No, this is what I need to learn: modern styles of fighting!" Korra said, gesturing to the pro-bending match going on behind her, making Tenzin sigh once again.

"Being the Avatar isn't all about fighting, Korra. When will you learn that?" He said.

"I have a match to go finish." She said, ignoring him. She turned around and walked over to the elevator which took her back to the playing field.

"You tried, Tenzin. Now, let's see how she does." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

We watched on as the game progressed and what happened next surprised the both of us. After being pummeled by the opposing team for over a minute and half, Korra took a breath and broke out into the form that Tenzin had shown us when we were at the airbending gates. My eyes went wide and Tenzin also looked shocked.

She had finally had her breakthrough.

"Well, would you look at that." Tenzin muttered. Korra continued holding The Platypus Bears off until they ran out of energy and it was only a matter of time before Mako and Bolin got back into the action and finished them off for good.

Guess what? They did.

"Whoo! Yeah, Korra!" I yelled, pumping my fists into the air. That was the craziest come back I had ever seen! It was like a completely different person out there and even though I was still a little mad at her, I couldn't help but feel proud.

"Knockout!"

The crowd erupted as the match ended and I could swear I heard Tenzin let out a whoop. I looked over at him with a grin on my face and he straightened his robes and his cleared his throat. He turned and left the platform, with me following close behind. I decided to tease him a little as we entered the lobby.

"I didn't know you liked Pro-bending, Tenzin." I said.

He cleared his throat once again.

"Pro-bending is a mockery of the noble tradition of bending." He said, repeating the same thing he had said before, but this time I couldn't help but notice how half-hearted it was. I shrugged and smiled. Tenzin and I turned our attention to Korra, Mako and Bolin who were high-fiving each other as they made their way into the lobby. She spotted Tenzin and I and walked over to the two of us.

"Tenzin, I'm really, really sorry about everything I said. I was frustrated and I took everything out on you," She said, looking down at the ground.

Tenzin put his hands on her shoulders. "I think I owe you an apology too. I was trying to teach you about patience but I lost mine," He said. "And by the way, young lady, you were something else out there. You moved just like an airbender!" He finished, making her eyes light up.

"You stayed and watched?" She asked.

"I did. Thank Takeo for convincing me to stay." He said. She turned her attention to me next.

"So, about our little fight earlier. I'm really sorry for not being supportive and I really hope you're not too mad at me?" She said.

"Are you kidding? How could I be mad after seeing a performance like that? You were amazing out there! You've gotta teach me that spinning jump thing you did." I said, throwing fake punches at her. She played along and dodged a couple, smiling.

"So, no hard feelings?" She said, sticking out her hand. I grabbed it and pulled her into a hug.

"No hard feelings."

**-0-**

The next morning, both Korra and I were up bright and early for the day's session. I couldn't explain it, but the air seemed…lighter with Korra's new attitude towards airbending. Or maybe we were both just on a high from the Fire Ferrets' win the night before. Either way it was nice to see.

The session had gone well, and Tenzin had even ended up introducing us to two new intermediate forms. Korra had ended up picking them up fairly quickly and she ended up leaving for her very first training session with the Fire Ferrets.

Me? Not so much. Hours later and I was still struggling to even complete the _easier _form of the two.

"Just like this, Takeo." Tenzin said, demonstrating the move for the fifth time that morning. I tried to copy what he had just shown me, but I ended up tripping over myself and landing flat on my back.

I looked up at the sky and wondered what I had done in a past life to be cursed with such a lack of coordination. Tenzin stood over me and stretched out his hand to help me out.

"How about we stop for the day?" Tenzin asked as he pulled me up from off of the ground. I nodded my head in agreement and sighed. This Airbending thing was a lot harder than I thought it would have been.

"I had no idea that bending was this hard." I said. "You guys make it look so easy,"

Tenzin chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. "We all learn at our own paces, son. Your breakthrough will come. You just need to keep working at it."

**-0-**

After our airbending lesson, I had decided to go off on my own and meditate for a bit. A couple days after I had arrived on Air Temple Island I had found a place on top of a wall overlooking the entrance of the Temple and the bay which gave me a great view of the city. It also meant that I could see who came in and out of the compound. I had been sitting there gazing at the skyline when I spotted Mako walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Fire Ferret!" I yelled, from on top of the wall. Mako looked up at where I was and gave me a short wave.

"Takeo! There you are!" He said. "You didn't happen to see Bolin 'round here did you?"

I shook my head and jumped down from the top of the wall, slowing my descent with the limited control of my Airbending that I had. Being an Airbender really _did _have its perks. My descent wasn't perfect, but jumping from that height, I probably would've hurt myself otherwise.

"Nah, I haven't seen him since last night. What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, really. I just thought he would've been here with Korra." He said, making me raise my eyebrows.

So, that confirmed it.

Bolin _did_ have a thing for Korra. I had totally called it when we were back at the gym.

I mean, the kid wasn't exactly _subtle_.

"Hmm, does he always do things like this?" I asked. Mako shook his head.

"It's not like him to just disappear without telling me where he's going first. I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, that's all," He said, running his hand through his hair. It was obvious that he was _very _worried about his brother.

"It's probably nothing," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "We can always go ask Korra if she's seen him. She's training with Tenzin's girls over by the airbending gates."

We walked over to where Korra and the girls were and I watched as Korra made her way through the circular gates with ease. A far cry from a few days ago, I can tell you that. She was finally learning. As we got closer I could hear Jinora and Ikki teasing Korra.

"Korra, is that the handsome firebender boy that drives you crazy?" Jinora asked, smiling. Korra went red and Earthbended the two girls out of the way.

"Mako? Is everything okay?" Korra asked as she turned her attention to Mako and I. She sounded like she was surprised to see him. Or was she just flustered from Jinora and Ikki's teasing? I had no idea.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you had seen Bolin. I thought he would be here." Mako said, rubbing his head.

"No, I haven't seen him. Is he okay?" She asked.

"I don't know. Bolin has a knack for getting himself into stupid situations." He sighed and then turned to me. "Takeo, wanna head out?"

I nodded my head. "Sure. Catch ya' later, Korra." I said. We both began to walk away before Korra jogged up behind us and stopped us.

"Wait! I could, uh, help you look for him." She said, beginning to turn red. Why was _she_ acting weird all of a sudden?

"Nah, I think me and Takeo are good." Mako said, brushing her off.

She walked faster and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. "Hey, Cool Guy? Let me help you. We can take Naga."

"Who's Naga?" He asked.

"My best friend, and a great tracker." She said and as if on cue, Naga showed up.

"Your best friend is a polar bear dog?" Mako asked.

I laughed. "Hah! That's what I said-Ow!"

Korra punched me on my arm and glared at me.

**CENTRAL CITY STATION**

* * *

The three of us hopped on Naga and ended up at Central City Station, a station notorious for its hang out spots, great food and also where Firelord Zuko's flaming statue was located. Back in my triad days, this was where I had spent most of my time looking out for tourists to rob or scam. I wasn't proud of it and a small part of me had always felt like Zuko's statue was looking down at me disapprovingly.

Stupid, I know.

"Well, this is his usual hangout." Mako said, climbing off of Naga.

"Bolin hangs out down here? Why?" I asked after jumping off of Naga's back.

Central City wasn't exactly known as the ideal hangout spot. As a matter fact, it was the complete opposite. As the name suggested, Central City was located in the heart of Republic City, and was one of the busiest places in the world. Thousands of people passed through here everyday, _including_ the ones that were usually up to no good.

"Beats me," Mako shrugged his shoulders, but then looked as if he had spotted something. "Hey, do you think those kids would know anything?"

Korra and I looked over at where Mako was pointing to and spotted a group of about ten kids or so, in the distance.

"Wouldn't hurt to try," I replied. "You guys go ahead, I'll be right there," I said as I turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Korra asked.

"Just to check something out,"

I waited until the two of them had left before I decided to check out one of my old hang out spots. I figured that if Mako and Bolin _did _have last connections with the Triads, this old spot would be the best place to start looking. I walked past Zuko's statue and made eye contact with a man sitting on one of the benches in front of it. I had recognized him immediately and suddenly regretted separating from Mako and Korra.

"Takeo? Well I'll be damned," He said, removing the cigar from him mouth.

"Hey, Shan." I said, groaning internally. Shan was the last person I had wanted to see, especially now when Mako and Korra were so close by.

"You've been gone three years, and the only thing you can say to your old pal is 'hi'?" He said tauntingly. I didn't respond. Shan was an old mentor of mine, and in the group of shady characters that I was with, he was by far the shadiest. He had no problem selling you out for a quick buck and was _not_ someone you wanted to mess with.

"Hong's been looking for you, ya know." He said, taking a puff of his cigar. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why?" I asked, skeptically. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Wanted to have a chat with you about the day you left."

"Why?" I asked again, probably sounding like the biggest idiot in the world.

"Something to do about his brother," He said.

"What happened to his brother?" I played dumb, careful to not let my voice or my thoughts betray the nervousness I was feeling. Shan tilted his fedora and looked me straight in the eye.

"So, you don't know huh? Word on the street is that you were the last one with him before he kicked the bucket. I'm sure Bossman would be happy to hear that you're alive and well." He said. There was something sinister behind his words. It was almost as if he was…threatening me.

I remembered that day.

All too well.

"I was with him, but we got separated. I don't know what happened after that." I lied. I could feel my heart rate speeding up. He smiled a toothy grin and pulled the cigar that he was smoking out of his mouth.

"Cut the bullshit, kid. You know exactly what happened, but instead of owning up to it like a man, you cut and run like a little bitch." He said.

He stood up from the bench, so that we were eye to eye. I was a little taller than him, but he had at least thirty pounds of solid muscle on me.

"And now you have the nerve to waltz back into my part of town and play dumb with me." He said.

"This stays between you and me, you understand me?" I threatened.

I had been so wrapped up in this airbending thing that I had forgotten about these assholes. Shan's eyed narrowed at me.

"Is that a threat?" He reached into his pocket to take something out, but quickly pulled his hand back as he heard Korra behind us.

"Takeo? We figured out where Bolin might be." She said. I could tell that she was wondering what was going on between Shan and I.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm coming." I said, ushering Korra away from Shan as I quickly as I possible could. I wanted to put as much distance between him and her as possible.

"It was nice talking to you, Takeo. See ya' around." He called out behind me, blowing out a puff of smoke and walking off. I let out a shaky breath.

Shit, this is not what I wanted. It was stupid of me to go back there. What had I expected?

"Who was that?" Korra asked, sounding concerned.

"Nobody. Let's go." I said, brushing her off.

"Takeo-"

"Drop it, Korra. Let's go." I said, walking off towards where Naga and Mako were waiting for us. I felt awful as I saw the hurt look that had spread across her face.

"So, what did you find out?" I asked, doing my best to hide how nervous I was feeling.

"Not much, but from what I've heard it sounds like there's a turf war brewing. And Bolin's about to get caught right in the middle of it." Mako said. I knew what that meant. Being on the streets for as long as he did, Bolin really should have known better.

"Well, let's get going before we run into any more trouble." Korra said, glancing at me before climbing onto Naga. I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"Alright...?" Mako said, most likely picking up on the awkwardness between Korra and I. He took Korra's hand and climbed on top of Naga.

"Where are we headed now?" I asked.

"Triple Threat Triads headquarters. Hopefully Bolin's down there and nothing's gone down yet." Maio said.

"You sure that's a good idea?" I asked. I wasn't a genius or anything, but I was sure that going into the _heart _of Triple Threat Triad territory wasn't the smartest idea.

"It's the only lead we have right now and I need to find my brother." Mako snapped. Seeing that Mako was starting to get antsy, I ended up keeping quiet for the time that the three of us were on Naga. I figured that being at eachothers throats wasn't going to help us find Bolin.

After a few more minutes of scouring the streets of Republic City for Bolin, Naga burst into a sprint, chasing after something in the streets. Eventually, she stopped in front of a lamppost and began growling at whatever it was that she had been chasing. I took a closer look and it was Pabu, Bolin's fire ferret.

"That's Pabu!" Mako said. Sounding a little relieved. I wasn't exactly sure that seeing Pabu _was _a good thing. No matter where they went, Bolin always had Pabu with him, so seeing the little fire ferret by himself was a little concerning.

"Naga, Pabu's a friend not a snack." Korra said, patting the animal on the head. Her words seemed to mollify Naga who calmed down and let the fire ferret run across her head and onto Mako's shoulder.

"Alright, now that we've found Pabu, it's time for us to head to the Triads' headquarters," Mako said.

It took us another five minutes to find the street we were looking for and as soon as we arrived, the three of us jumped off of Naga and onto the porch of the Triple Threat's hide out. It was weird being back here. I felt nervous and nostalgic at the same time.

"It's a little _too_ quiet here." I said, noticing how strange it was for the place to be this quiet. There were always at least two guys guarding the front door.

"So, you noticed it too." Mako said.

"Noticed what? It's like you guys are talking in some kind of code or something." Korra said crossing her arms, obviously getting annoyed that we were leaving her out of the loop.

"There are usually thugs posted out front. Something's not right. We better be cautious." Maio explained.

The words barely left Mako's mouth before we were ambushed by a group of thugs clad in an all black uniform and googles.

The three of us got into our bending stances and waited for the thugs to charge at us. They did. I had just enough time to turn around to see one of them leaping through the air, coming at me. I punched out at him, a burst of air leaving my fist. It wasn't as powerful as I had wanted, but it did throw him off balance. It had taken the three of us a while to fight them off, but they ended up retreating, throwing gas canisters at us and disappearing in the smoke. I used my airbending to clear off the smoke and my eyes widened as I saw a truck speeding off into the night…with Bolin tied up and gagged in the back seat. His eyes were filled with fear.

"Bolin!" I said, running after the truck that he was tied up in. Korra and Mako turned their attention to the speeding truck and ran as fast as they could behind me. I didn't get very far as a motorcycle sped past me, hitting me in the face with some kind of blunt object. I fell back, dazed.

"Fuck…" I cursed, staring up into the sky. I could feel something warm on my forehead. I touched my head gingerly and looked at the blood on my fingertips. How hard did that guy hit me?

"Takeo!"

Mako was the first one to reach me and help me up. Korra ended up by my side a few seconds later.

"Takeo, you're bleeding," Korra said, touching my forehead. I flinched at the contact.

"I'm alright. Who the hell were those guys? They didn't look like Triads." I said, trying to wipe the blood away from my forehead. I doubted it would stop bleeding anytime soon.

"They were Equalists." Mako said, looking off into the distance with a stony look on his face.

"Equalists?" Korra asked. Mako nodded his head.

"Yeah, they're this group that hate benders. Amon's their leader, apparently."

"Amon? That's that crazy anti-bending guy, right?" I asked, to which Mako nodded his head.

"Wait, how do you guys know so much about this?" Korra asked, looking at me in particular.

"I used to work with a few guys that were a part of it and tried to get me to sign up. I went to a few of their rallies, but it wasn't really my thing. That Amon guy is a little nuts." I admitted.

It was true. A couple of months before I had run into Korra, I had been invited to a secret rally in one of the _sketchier _areas in Republic City. They had set it up in such a way that you had to have an invitation in order to get in. Oddly enough, there was quite a turn out. There were _a lot _of people in this city that didn't like benders.

"Ugh! I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess!" Mako said, grunting in frustration. I wiped my bloody fingers on my jacket.

"Hey, we'll find him. Don't worry." I said, looking up at the both of them.


	4. IV

**Chapter IV**

**Air Temple Island Docks  
**

**170 AG**

* * *

After being ambushed by Amon's Equalists, or _whatever _they liked to call themselves, Korra, Mako and I had spent another hour or so combing the streets of Republic City for any clues as to where Bolin could have been. Coming down to the end of it, we had pulled aside so many people and knocked on so many doors that I had eventually lost count. It was crazy that out of all the people that we had talked to, not _one_ had seen Bolin or had any idea of what we were talking about.

It just didn't make sense.

Sure, Republic City was _huge, _but it wasn't Ba Sing Se. There was no way that this city was big enough to have someone disappear without a trace within a couple of hours and between that Amon guy and his band of goons, I was starting to think that there was something really weird going on in the city. How had those Equalists known that we would be there at that exact moment and what had they gotten out of attacking us the way they did? Why hadn't they used the ambush as an opportunity to take one of us as well?

Like I said, none of it added up.

Realizing that all the overthinking I was doing wasn't helping in the slightest, I sighed and began to walk a little faster. After the sun had started to go down, Mako had ended up making the call for us to head back to Air Temple Island for the night. With everything that had been happening in the city lately, it didn't make sense for us to be out there after dark, especially after being cornered by those Equalists just an hour earlier. I could tell that going back to the island without Bolin was the last thing he wanted to do, but at this point we didn't really have much of a choice. It didn't look like we'd be finding Bolin anytime soon, so the next course of action was to get back to the island and rest up for the night.

At the end of it all, I just wanted Bolin to be okay. I hadn't known him for very long, but from the time I had spent with him, I could tell that he was a good kid. A little naive and in over his head sometimes, but a good kid nonetheless.

Which begged the question: What the _hell did he do to have those Equalists after him? Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time or was he involved in a few things that we didn't know about? _

I hoped it was the latter.

"You okay?" Korra said, jolting me out of my thoughts. I had been so caught up in trying to figure out what the hell had been going on that I hadn't even noticed that she had caught up with me. Ever since we had left the city, the three of us had kind of drifted apart. Mako had taken to sticking to the front, leading the way, I had kept to myself in the middle and Korra had trailed behind us with Naga and Pabu.

"I'm just worried about Bolin," I replied. She nodded her head in understanding and looked on at the Air Temple Island docks in the near distance. I could just about see Mako leaning up against one of the railings, waiting for us to catch up with him.

"He'll be okay," She replied. She then looked over at Mako who was staring out into the distance. "He hasn't really said anything since we left the city,"

She was right. We had left the city close to half an hour ago, and if I had been keeping track of the time correctly, the last time Mako had said anything was a little before we had left.

"I'm sure he's got a lot on his mind. I know I would if someone close to me-" I stopped mid sentence and squeezed my eyes shut as an intense pain shot through my skull.

"Takeo?" Korra said, in concern. I did my best to steady myself and held on to one of the dock railings for support. After a few moments or so, I felt Korra wrap an arm around my waist to help keep me upright.

"Hey, look at me." She said, as she supported my weight. I did as she said and did my best to look her straight in the eyes. The only thing I could focus on was the pounding in my head. It had come on suddenly and it felt like someone had run me over with a Sato Mobile.

Over and over again.

I shut my eyes again, and took a deep breath, hoping that whatever this thing was, it wasn't anything serious. Bolin was still out there, and I knew that I had to be on my A-game if I was going to be any help in finding him. After a few moments of internally cursing both the Equalist that had decked me _and _the Universe for getting me into this mess in the first place, I opened my eyes slowly, only to see both Korra and Mako staring at me, with concern etched across both of their faces.

"You good?" Mako asked, to which I nodded my head slowly.

"No, you're not." Korra said, still holding onto me. I looked down at her and frowned. That Equalist had hit me hard, but not _that_ hard.

"I'm _fine_," I said, brushing Korra off. "Let's just hurry up and get back to the island so we can figure out how we're going to find Bolin,"

"Yeah, we're not doing _anything_ until we get you checked out," Mako said, completely ignoring me. He then turned to Korra. "You guys have a Doctor on the island, right?"

"Yeah, Doctor Shuang." Korra said. "I'm sure she can help," Korra said.

"Guys, seriously, I'm _fine_." I said, shrugging Korra off of me and moving away from her. I stood upright and did my best to at least _pretend_ like I was okay. The pain was starting to fade away, but I was still having trouble focusing on the both of them. Everything seemed to be spinning, so I blinked a few times and my vision seemed to go back to normal.

"Alright, tough guy, how many fingers am I holding up?" Korra said, clearly holding up two fingers. I rolled my eyes. It's not like I was _blind. _

"I don't know, seven?" I replied, sarcastically. Korra sighed and put her hands down.

"Well, he can't be hurt that badly if he has time to make jokes," Mako frowned.

"There's always time for jokes, Mako." I replied through gritted teeth. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as it was when it first started, but it hadn't exactly gone away either. Before I could say anything else, I felt Korra grab my arm and start dragging me towards the boat headed for Air Temple Island. In my defense, I wasn't _trying_ to piss them off. It just sort of happened from time to time.

"What are you doing?!" I said, struggling against her grip. The girl was s_trong_.

"Getting you back to the island," She said, without looking at me.

"Oh come on! A little baton to the face has never stopped me before!" I replied. She immediately let go of my arm and spun around to face me, and it was in that moment I knew that I had screwed up because she ripped me a _new_ one.

"What is wrong with you?! Why can't you just be serious for a second?!" Korra yelled. I shut my eyes again and winced at how loud she was. Her yelling was definitely _not _helping the whole head situation.

"Would you quit yelling? Are you _trying_ to kill me?!" I answered back.

"I wouldn't have to yell at you if you would just take things seriously and listen to me-"

"Guys!" Mako yelled, standing in between the two of us. "Enough! Now isn't the time for us to fall apart!"

"She started it," I said, quietly. The look Korra gave me made me shut up quickly.

"Yeah? Well I'm ending it." He said, looking at the both of us. It only made sense that he was the mediator. He _was _the oldest out of the three of us after all. "Korra's right, Takeo. Before we do anything else, we've gotta make sure that you're okay."

I groaned, but nodded my head. There was no way I was getting out of this one.

"Fine." I said, reluctantly.

**-0-**

**AIR TEMPLE ISLAND**

**DOCTOR'S OFFICE**

"This is the Doctor's office?" I asked, as the three of us and Tenzin (who had met us when we returned to the island) walked into a large room with a door on the other side. Even though it was located on Air Temple Island, I could see that it's decor was heavily inspired by the Water Tribe. It was a far cry from the plain offices I had seen back in Republic City.

I actually kind of liked it. I had always been fascinated with the Water Tribes and their culture and it had always been a dream of mine to go down there and see them for myself.

"It's more of a healing center than anything else," Tenzin replied. "It belonged to my mother, who then passed it down to Doctor Shuang's mother, who passed it down to her."

"That explains the WaterTribe vibe," I said, still taking in the decor. Tenzin laughed and proceeded to knock on the door.

"It's open," Said a female voice from the other side. Tenzin opened the door and held it open for me as I walked in.

"Good Evening, Vali." Tenzin said. "I know it's a little late, but I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much trouble for you to take a look at Takeo, here."

"Of course not, Tenzin." The Doctor replied. "How's Pema doing? Should be any day now, I'm sure."

Tenzin chuckled. "Yes. The kids and I are very excited."

Tenzin, excited? What a concept.

To be fair, he had a kid on the way, so I gave him a pass on that one.

"With good reason," The Doctor responded. She then turned to me. "Alright, Takeo, why don't you take a seat over there for me and we can get started." She said, putting on a pair of gloves. Wordlessly, I nodded my head and sat down.

"I'll be right outside. If you need anything, let me know." Tenzin said to me before leaving the room. A part of me wanted to tell him to stay, but I decided against it. I was eighteen for spirits sake. Not to mention that both Mako and Korra were outside as well and the last thing I needed was for them to know that I got nervous at Doctor's offices. There was no way I was living that one down.

"So, you're the new Airbender, huh?" The Doctor said as she placed a stool in front of me and began to inspect my face. I flinched at the contact, as it was still extremely tender. The bleeding had stopped fairly quickly and the pain in my head had also stopped, but touching it, on the other hand was another story. That was definitely a no go.

"Yeah, it's all been a little surreal if I'm being honest," I replied through gritted teeth, as she began cleaning it. I clenched my fists and tried to breathe through the pain.

"Sorry, I know it hurts, but it's a necessary evil unfortunately." She said, apologetically. "Anyway. How have things been going so far?" She asked.

"Well, other than being smacked in the face with an electric baton, things have been going pretty well." I joked.

"A sense of humor, I see." She laughed. After a few more minutes of cleaning the wound around my eyebrow, she threw her gloves in the garbage and scribbled a few notes on a notepad.

"Well, kid, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" She said, as she finally finished whatever it was that she was writing down.

"I'll take the bad news first, I guess." I said.

"Pragmatic, I like it."

"In this city, you've gotta be." I said, to which she nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, the bad news is that I can't heal it like I normally would," She said. She hadn't mentioned that she was a healer before, but I probably should have put two and two together when Tenzin said that this had been Master Katara's office, way back when. The Water Tribe interior probably should have given me a clue too. Then again, I wasn't exactly on my A-Game.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The laceration is too close to the frontal lobe for my liking. I don't want to risk it." She replied.

Laceration? Frontal Lobe? She had definitely lost me there.

"The Frontal Lobe...?" I asked. I had no idea what that was.

"The part of the brain that's responsible for you being you. It determines your personality, your memory, problem solving and even your ability to bend."

"It controls your bending?" I asked. That was something that particularly interested me. Maybe I was getting closer to figuring this whole Airbending thing out after all.

"Yes. There's a small area in the lobe that is active in some and dormant in others." She explained.

"So when it's active that means that the person is a bender and when it's inactive that person is a non-bender?" I asked, suddenly interested in how this whole thing worked.

"Right." She nodded her head. I smiled at this. It was cool to learn something new. "We know that healing is effective for areas below the head, but for above it, we're still not quite sure how it works. So until then, we'll just let nature take it's course."

"So, what now? Do I just leave it?" I asked.

"No. You're going to need stitches for this one since it's fairly deep," She said.

"But won't that leave a scar?" I asked. I had known a few people that had gotten stitches for injuries they had gotten and nine out of ten of them ended up with awful scars.

"Yes."

I sighed at that, not too happy about the situation. Was I able to pull off the scarred look? I mean, Beifong had managed to do it, but I was nowhere as badass as she was.

"Alright, so what's the good news then?" I asked, hoping it was a little better.

"You don't have a concussion." She answered. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"So, if I don't have a concussion, what was up with that headache I had gotten this afternoon?" I asked.

"I can't be too sure, but I have a feeling it had something to do with one of those batons. You said they were electrically charged, right?" She asked, referencing what I had told her when she had asked me to explain what had happened.

I nodded my head.

"So, that was probably why. Hours after being electrocuted, a person may still have minute quantities of electricity coursing through their bodies looking for a way to exit. If you were a Firebender, I would have suggested trying a technique that would allow the lightning to escape, but since you're not, you're going to have to let this one take it's course."

"It's not going to kill me, is it?" I asked, half joking and half serious. This wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass...would it?

"Of course not. At worst you'll just be dealing with a few headaches over the next few days. Let's start stitching up that wound." She said. I looked at her and did my best to hide what I was feeling. I was none too impressed about the fact that I would not only be dealing with a bunch of headaches over the next few days, but a scar that would change how I looked...permanently.

After another half an hour or so, Doctor Shuang had finished stitching up the wound and handed me a small mirror. I took it from her and inspected my face. I ran a finger around the thin stitches running across my left eyebrow. Other than a bit of bruising, the stitches didn't look _horrible. _It just looked like I had gotten punched in the face really hard.

Which technically, I kinda did.

"And now you are free to go. All I ask is that you go straight to bed after this and rest." Doctor Shuang instructed.

I breathed out another sigh of relief at her words and handed her back the small mirror. Now, I could focus on helping Mako and Korra find Bolin.

"I will. Thank you, Doctor." I said, as I rose from the seat.

"And, Takeo?" She said. "Make sure you and Korra are careful out there. It's a crazy world we live in,"

I nodded my head and bowed as a sign of respect before walking out of the door. I walked and was met by Mako, Korra and Tenzin.

"So?" Korra said, getting up from her chair.

"She stitched it up for me," I said, pointing to my head.

"She couldn't heal it?"

I shook my head. "She said it was better to let it heal naturally,"

"Is there anything else we should know about?" Tenzin asked.

"No, I'm okay. No concussions or anything." I replied.

"That's a relief," Tenzin said, relaxing a little. He pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time.

"It's getting late, kids." He continued. "Mako, I know your brother is still missing, but I really do think it's best if you continue your search in the morning. I would be more than happy to have a few White Lotus Guards aid you on your search."

Mako looked like he was about to say something but kept his mouth shut.

"I'd like that. Thank you, Councilman Tenzin," He said, quietly before walking off to his room.

**-0-**

Eventually after saying my goodbyes to Mako and Korra for the night a_nd _getting the all clear from the Doctor, I went back to my room and lay down on my bed and after minutes of tossing and turning, I reached for the book on the desk next to me. After the day I had just had, there was absolutely no way I was going to sleep anytime soon.

"Avatar Yangchen," I read aloud. If I had remembered correctly, I had just finished the chapter about the WaterTribe Avatar before Korra, a man named Kuruk and the next chapter was on the Air Nomad before Avatar Aang. I flipped the page and saw an illustration of what she had supposedly looked like. She had long brown hair that had been shaved just before where her tattoo started. I had to admit, it was fascinating seeing pictures of people that lived and died hundred of years before I was even _born. _I flipped the page again, and began reading.

_Avatar Yangchen was the Air Nomad Avatar that succeeded Avatar Jafaar of the Fire Nation. Born in 428 BG in the Western Air Temple, Avatar Yangchen quickly became a respected figure among the four nations. In her youth, she was hailed for her wisdom beyond her years-_

_*creak*_

I looked up from my book and looked around my room to see where the noise had come from. Had I just heard something or was that another side effect of getting my ass kicked by an Equalist?

_Probably just the wind. _I thought. I shook my head and went back to reading.

_Although the Air Nomads were perceived to be pacifistic people, Yangchen was feared for her fierce- _

_*THWACK*_

"What in spirits name-" I muttered, this time setting the book down and sitting upright. The noise had come from just outside of my window, so I climbed off of the bed slowly and tiptoed towards the window, wondering who on _earth _could have been making so much noise at this time.

It couldn't have been one of the Acolytes, those guys were usually asleep at this time. It also couldn't have been the White Lotus, since they usually made their rounds later on in the night. It couldn't have been Tenzin, Korra or one of the kids either, as their rooms were in two separate wings on the other side of the island.

I peered out of the window and frowned as I saw e_xactly_ who it was that had just walked out of the door leading to the Men's dorms.

Red scarf? Spiky hair?

That son of a-

What the _hell_ was he doing? Hadn't we all agreed to go out and look for Bolin in the morning? Why was he going out again at this time? Was he crazy?

Seeing that he had a bit of a head start on me and was starting to get away, I put my boots on quickly and climbed out of the window onto the ledge. I then looked down at the ground below me and figured I'd be able to make the jump from there. It wasn't that high, and if I had timed it correctly, I'd be able to land directly in front of Mako.

I was an Airbender after all. I totally had the ability to make this look cool.

I took a deep breath and did my best to jump off the ledge as cleanly as possible, hoping to slow my descent with my new Airbending skills. Unfortunately, I hadn't exactly stuck the landing and instead of landing _in front _of Mako like I had originally planned, I ended up crashing into one of the bushes behind him.

"Yep, I'm definitely gonna feel that tomorrow too," I groaned. At the rate I was going, I wasn't going to be able to get out of bed without crutches.

"Spirits, Takeo! What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Mako whispered angrily. He shook his head and helped me up out of the bush.

"I heard you sneaking out and whatever you're up to, I want in." I whispered back, picking branches and leaves out of my clothes and hair.

"How did you-" He began.

"You Firebender folk aren't quiet at all." I replied.

"I wasn't _that _loud," He said.

"Mako, I've met Boar-Q-Pines quieter than you," I said, making him frown even more.

"Go away," He said, turning his back to me and walking off. I frowned and immediately ran in front of him, blocking his path.

"You and I both know that being out in the city at this time isn't a good idea," I said. He used to run with the Triple Threats just like I had. He _knew _what he was potentially getting himself into. "Why can't you just wait for Tenzin and the White Lotus?"

"You don't get it, do you?" He said, losing his temper and raising his voice slightly. "My brother is out there and I don't know how much time I have left! I can't wait."

"Well, then I'm coming with you," I said. Mako looked me straight in the eyes and then sighed. I could be relentless when I wanted to be.

"You just don't know how to quit, do you?" He said, shaking his head.

"Nah," I replied. "And besides, I told you I'd help. Bolin's my friend too."

"Fine. Let's just get out of here before anyone else finds us," He said. Just as we were about to make our way out of the compound, a voice stopped us dead in our tracks.

"Ahem," Said a voice, making the two of us spin around.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Mako trailed off. At this point, I was sure we were going to give the guy a heart attack.

"Nice night to sneak out, huh?" Korra said, with her arms crossed. The looks she was giving Mako and I would make any person crawl away in fear.

I shrugged my shoulders and pointed at Mako, who slapped my hand away.

"So you guys were going to leave without me?!" Korra said, staring at me in particular for some reason.

"The plan was to leave without the _both_ of you!" Mako replied, exasperatedly.

"Seriously?" Korra exclaimed.

"Hold on," I said to Korra. "How did _you _hear us? Your room is on the other side of the island." Unless she had super hearing or something, there was no way she could hear Mako and I arguing from her room.

"I practice my Waterbending at night sometimes and I could hear you morons arguing all the way from the training grounds," She replied. "Wherever you two are going I'm coming with you, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

I looked at Mako and smirked. He thought that _I_ was being stubborn and difficult? Korra was another story.

Mako looked at Korra and then back at me and after a few moments of silence he nodded his head.

"Let's go find Bolin and bring him home."

* * *

**THE FLYING DAGGER**

**EAST REPUBLIC CITY**

* * *

"The Flying Dagger?" Korra said as we approached a dimly lit bar. On the way over, Mako had told us that he had found a lead on where Bolin may have been. The only thing that he had conveniently forgotten to mention was that this lead was more of _hunch_ than an actual lead. We were grasping at straws and as the night went on, I was starting to get antsy.

"You sure this is a good idea, Mako? This place isn't exactly know for it's hospitality." I said as we stood outside the bar. Located in the North Eastern region of Republic City, the Flying Dagger was a notorious hotspot for criminals. I had been over there a few times and every time I had gone, it made me nervous. You just never knew what could happen. Fights could break out, you could get robbed, or_ worse_.

"That's exactly why I didn't want you two to come," He said, adjusting the hat on his head.

"Well, we're here. Let's go," Korra said, getting ready to march inside. Mako and I looked at each other and then pulled her back in one swift motion.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Mako said, still holding on to Korra's arm. "That's not gonna work here. You know how these guys respond to violence?" He asked. Korra shook her head.

"With more violence," I added. "So let's at least try to-"

As if on cue, a rather large man flew out of the door, straight past us and landed in a heap on the floor. Korra's eyes widened, Mako shifted uncomfortably and I scratched the back of my head nervously.

"So, uh, like I was saying, we've gotta at least act like we belong here..." I stuttered, still staring at the man on the floor. At least he was still breathing...

I think.

Korra nodded her head and pulled Mako's scarf up over her face. Before leaving Air Temple Island, we had all managed to scrounge up some disguises so that we weren't easily recognizable. It wasn't a problem for me so much as it was for Mako and Korra. Firstly, with Korra being the Avatar and Mako being a pro-bending player. There were bound to be a few people that would recognize them.

After adjusting our disguises, we walked into the dimly lit bar and looked around. I hadn't been there in a couple of years, but it looked just like I remembered it. The clientele hadn't exactly changed either.

"Alright, you guys stay here and keep your eyes peeled for anything," Mako said as we stood at the front of the bar.

"Where are you going?" Korra whispered.

"Gonna go ask around. I'll be back in a bit," Mako said before disappearing into a crowd of people close to the bar.

"So, now what?" Korra asked as she looked around the bar. Even though she had been doing her best to hide it, I could tell that she was a little nervous. Hell, _I _was nervous and I had been here a couple of times.

"Let's find a table," I said "If we stand here looking lost, people are gonna think we're cops."

"Let me guess, cops aren't exactly popular in this part of town?" She said.

I shook my head.

After a few seconds of searching, we spotted a small table close to the back.

"How'd you know so much about this place, anyway?" Korra asked as we sat down. I had purposely found a table closer to the back of the bar. It was out of the way and that way we could avoid any of the unruly folk that liked to hang out around here.

"I've been here a couple of times," I answered. She raised an eyebrow.

"You visit bars often?"

"No."

"So how'd you know about it?"

"You always ask this many questions?" I asked, starting to get a little annoyed. There she was making assumptions _again_.

"Only when I'm curious," She replied.

Smartass.

I rolled my eyes and picked up the menu on the table. I had no intention of ordering anything, but I figured it would give her the hint to change the subject.

"Anyway," She said changing the subject. "I never got to thank you for helping me out with Tenzin and the whole Pro-Bending thing."

"I don't know how you did it, but I think you managed to get him hooked on Pro-Bending." I said. "I caught him reading the Pro-Bending section in the newspaper the other day."

Korra laughed. "You're kidding?"

"I'm serious," I said. As the words left my mouth, two gentlemen playing a game of Pai Sho two tables over, caught my eye. One of them had just made an offensive move and in response, the other pulled out a bright red tile and placed it on one of the squares on the board.

A _red_ lotus tile? I didn't remember that being a part of the game. Had the rules of Pai Sho changed recently?

"Hey, Korra. Have the rules of Pai Sho changed recently?" I asked, still not taking my eyes off of the two men playing the game.

Korra looked at me. "Uh, I don't think so? Why?"

"What about the tiles?" I explained. "Have the colors changed?

"I don't know how you guys do it up here, but in the South they've always been white and brown." She said. "I can't say for sure though, I hate Pai Sho." She added.

I smiled at that. _Of course_ she hated Pai Sho; a game that was based on having patience.

"That's weird..." I trailed off.

"What are you looking at?" She asked. I looked at her and motioned over to where the two gentlemen were playing.

"Those guys over there. One of them pulled out a_ red_ lotus tile." I said.

"I don't see anything?" She said. "They're playing with brown and white tiles."

"What? No, they were just-"

I looked over at them again and to my shock, the tile was gone and had been replaced with the a familiar brown one.

"I could've sworn..." I trailed off. I looked back at Korra who looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted by Mako who had pulled up a seat at our table.

"There you guys are," Mako said.

"Did you find anything?" Korra asked. He nodded his head and quickly flashed a piece of paper that he had in his pocket.

"What is _that_?" I asked.

"Everything we need to get into Amon's rally tonight," Mako answered quietly. Korra and I looked at each other and then back at Mako.

"He's having a rally tonight?" Korra asked.

"Yeah. It's just on the other side of town, so we've gotta leave now if we want to catch it." Mako said.

**-0-**

It had taken us about twenty minutes or so to get to Amon's rally from _The Flying Dagger_. Other than a few comments here and there, none of us had really said anything. I had gotten lost in thinking about that damned red lotus tile. It didn't really seem like a big deal, but it was something that didn't sit right with me. I had a bad feeling and the pit in my stomach seemed to deepen as the night progressed.

"Is this it?" I asked, as we finally approached a large run down building. Even though I had lived in Republic City for the majority of my life, I had never actually been to this side of the city.

"We're about to find out," Mako replied.

"Ready?" I asked, to which they both nodded their heads.

After checking over our disguises one last time, the three of us headed over to the entrance of the building, where a few people standing around. Mako had walked on ahead of Korra and I and just before getting to the door, I felt Korra link her arms with mine.

"What are you doing?!" I whispered, a little confused.

"It'll look less suspicious this way." She replied.

"Okay..." I said, awkwardly. I could feel my cheeks heating up again, and with my free hand, I turned the collar of my jacket up to hide it. Where had that come from? This definitely wasn't how I thought my night was going to go.

"Don't make this weird," Korra said, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Who's he talking to?" I said, gesturing over at Mako and unintentionally ignoring Korra. Our conversation was going to have to wait until later.

"Beats me," She whispered back. Korra and I stood there for a moment watching him as he talked to whoever it was that he was talking to and after a few more minutes, he walked over to us with his hands in his pockets.

"We need to find Bolin, and fast," He said, looking at both Korra and I. Korra and I exchanged looks and wondered what or _who_ had spooked him so badly.

"Mako, what's going on?" Korra asked, letting go of my arm for a moment.

"Something bad is gonna happen, and we need to find Bolin and get him out of here before it does." He said.

"We'll find him, Mako." I said. "The event should be starting soon, so let's get in there."

The three of us walked up the stairs to the entrance of the hall and waited in line behind a group of people who were waiting to get in. I wanted to ask Mako what the guy had told him, but I figured that here wasn't exactly the best place to ask questions. We didn't want people getting suspicious, after all.

After a few moments of waiting in line, the three of us began to walk into the arena, but were stopped immediately by a rather large doorman.

"This is a private event. Nobody gets in without an invitation." The man said.

"Uh, invitation?" Korra said, squeezing my arm even tighter. She must have been thinking the same thing that I was. Mako hadn't said anything about an invitation!

The doorman frowned and crossed his arms, with the most unimpressed look I had ever seen plastered across his face. Luckily, Mako being the quick thinker that he was, pulled out one of the flyers that he had gotten from the bar.

"You mean this?" He said, holding it up and showing the doorman. Seeing the flyer, the doorman relaxed, let out a smile and motioned for us to go through the door.

_That was too close. _I thought.

As we entered the building, Korra let go of my arm and walked ahead in front of Mako and I. We followed the crowd through a dark corridor and eventually walked into a hall filled with more people than I could even count. From the section where we were standing alone, there seemed to be _hundred_s of people packed in there like ocean kumquats.

"I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many in one place," Mako whispered. "We need to keep our eyes out for Bolin."

I nodded my head in agreement. Being a non-bender for some time, it was common knowledge that there were people out there that didn't like benders. Hell, I was surrounded by them, but to see_ this_ many in one place? That was nothing short of shocking. I glanced over at Korra to my left, who hadn't said a word since we had entered the hall and after keeping my eyes on her for a couple more seconds, I noticed that she _still_ hadn't taken her eyes off of the crowd. It was as if she was stuck in some sort of trance.

"Korra?" I said, nudging her gently.

"Huh?" She said, snapping out of it. "Did you say something?" She asked.

"No, I was just-"

Suddenly, before I could finish my sentence, the stage curtains were pulled back, and revealed a giant backdrop of a masked man. Seconds later, a section of the floor slid open and stood on it, a man in the center with a few others surrounding him.

"They're wearing the same uniforms as the guys that attacked us," Mako whispered. Korra looked at him and then back at the stage.

"Please welcome your hero, your savior, Amon!" The announcer said, followed by a roar of applause. I cringed at the roar of applause that erupted as he stepped off the platform and was handed a microphone by one of the Equalists. He stood at the center of the stage for a couple of seconds, with both of his arms outstretched, as if he was basking in the attention that he was getting.

The man really did believe that he was going to be the savior of Republic City. I shook my head at the thought and looked up at the stage again.

"My quest for equality began many years ago." He said. His voice was deep and gravelly, and had an authoritative tone to it. "When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the Firebender who extorted my father." He continued.

"One day, my father confronted this man. But when he did, that Firebender took my family from me. Then, he took my face." At Amon's words, there was a collective sigh that went through the crowd. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since."

The three of us exchanged glances.

"As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." He said. At Amon's mention of Korra, the crowd immediately began to boo. I moved closer to Korra and protectively put my hand on her shoulder. Mako shifted closer to her too, doing the same thing. At Amon's mention of Korra, I could sense that all three of us were uncomfortable. I wanted to get the hell out of there, but there was no way that we were going to leave without Bolin.

"If the Avatar were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But she's wrong. Bending has brought nothing but war and suffering and now it is time to rise up and eradicate all benders." He paused for a moment and stood still.

"You all must be wondering what this "Revelation" is, well my brothers and sisters, tonight you will get your answer. I am here to show you the power the spirits have bestowed upon me," He continued. "The power to remove a person's bending."

The collective gasp from the crowd could probably have been heard from several miles away. Looking around me, I had noticed that not a single person had taken their eyes off of Amon and the stage.

"That's not possible." Korra said, softly. She was stunned.

We all were.

Amon, however, seemed to relish in the crowd's reaction. He gestured to someone off stage and seconds later several men in handcuffs were herded onto the stage, including _Bolin_. Mako's eyes went wide and Korra gasped.

"Bolin," Mako whispered.

"And now, for a demonstration. Please welcome Lightning Bolt Zolt, the leader of the Triple Threat Triad, a murderer, thief and one of the most notorious criminals Republic City has to offer." My heart rate sped up as I looked on at the man who had ruined so many lives here in Republic City. I could feel the repressed hatred build up inside of me but tried to push it down for Bolin's sake. Now wasn't the time to do anything stupid. Zolt was ushered in by Amon's Lieutenant and was met with an array of boos, and some even went as far as to throw their drinks at him.

"This man," Amon said gesturing to Zolt. "has amassed a fortune by abusing non-benders. Luckily for us, his reign is about to come to an end."

Amon's Lieutenant untied Zolt's hands and Amon continued. "And now, in the interest of fairness I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending."

Zolt readied himself and barely gave Amon a chance to prepare as he began throwing a series of fireballs at him. Oddly enough, Amon sidestepped each and every fireball thrown at him with ease and made his way closer and closer to Zolt with every step. Seeing how close Amon had gotten to him, Zolt began to panic and began moving his hands together in a circular motion, trying to summon lightening. Amon figured him out and grabbed one of his hands before he could execute the move and quickly used his free hand to jab him in the neck, immobilizing him.

After immobilizing Zolt, Amon forced him to his knees and pressed a thumb to his forehead. I wasn't sure what had happened but it only took Zolt a matter of seconds to collapse to the floor. The crowd was silent for a few moments, in anticipation of Zolt getting back up and finishing the fight. Eventually he did, and he immediately tried to throw a punch at Amon, expecting fire to appear out of his wrist, but nothing happened. Zolt looked at his hands.

"What did you do to me?" He asked, his voice wavering.

"Your Firebending is gone. Forever." Amon said. Zolt fainted, the crowd gasped and our jaws almost hit the floor. It wasn't possible for someone to be able to take away someone else's bending. It was common knowledge that only the Avatar was able do that. I looked over at Korra who still hadn't picked her jaw up off of the ground yet. Amon waited for a few moments before speaking up again.

"Do you see, my brothers and sisters? We are entering a new age, one where we are able to escape the tyranny of benders. One where _we _will rule-"

The sound of an explosion cut Amon off and almost immediately, the gathering descended into chaos. Smoke infiltrated the large room, and obscured the view I had of Amon and the stage. People were screaming and trampling over each other in order to get safety, and I had somehow lost Mako and Korra in all of the chaos.

As the seconds passed by, more and more smoke began penetrating the room, and it was becoming harder for me to see where I was going. I pushed against all of the people running at me, and did my best to make my way up to the stage where Bolin had been. Even though I had lost them too, I figured that Korra and Mako would have had more of a chance at making it out than Bolin currently did. After a few more minutes of struggling through the panicking crowd, I realized that if I wanted to find Bolin or even Korra and Mako, I was going to have to use my airbending to clear myself a path.

Using the limited airbending that I knew, I cleared myself a small path that led up to the stage and hoped that somehow the Equalists had forgotten about Bolin and left him there. Unfortunately, neither Bolin, the Equalists or Amon were no where to be found. I ran to the back of the stage and I caught a glimpse of what looked like Amon and his goons rushing out of the venue. There was no way I was going to let Amon get away, but there was no way I could take him on by myself.

I ran towards the back entrance of the venue and used my airbending to clear myself a path so that I could see. After a few more moments of practically walking through one of the hallways, blind, I reached the back entrance and bumped into someone. The person immediately swung around, and earth bent me straight into the wall.

Yet another thing I was going to feel in the morning. Tomorrow was going to be rough.

"Takeo?" Korra said, rushing over to me. I rubbed my shoulder and took her hand as she helped me up. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were one of those Equalists!"

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to feel that later," I said, trying to shake off getting slammed into a wall. I looked behind her and noticed that neither Mako or Bolin were with her. "Where's Mako? Bolin? I asked. She shook her head.

"I lost the both of you when that explosion went off, and I still haven't seen Bolin." She said.

We heard a loud crash from outside and ran towards the noise, hoping that whoever was responsible for the noise was the people were looking for. Fortunately, the universe seemed to be in our favor, because as we exited the venue, we were met by Bolin flying through the air and launching an earth disk at one of Amon's Lieutenants. However, our luck was short lived as the Lieutenant side stepped Bolin and thrust two metal sticks into his chest, knocking him limp. Seeing that, I immediately stepped in and began throwing punches at the man who had knocked Bolin out. It seemed like with every punch I threw, the stronger the bursts of air coming out of my hands became.

This was good.

At least it wasn't completely random anymore.

"An Airbender?!" The man seemed surprised but got over it quickly. He moved into a fighting stance and pointed his baton at me.

"You benders need to understand there's no place for you in this-Gah!" He didn't even get to finish his sentence as he was launched six feet into the air by a slab of earth. I looked over to find the culprit, who was smirking at me.

"Thanks." I said.

"Don't mention it." Korra put her hands to her mouth and whistled, summoning Naga immediately. Mako was carrying a dazed Bolin and put him on Naga's back. Korra and Mako jumped on top but I hesitated, realizing that there wasn't enough space for all of us. I looked around and watched as several more Equalist soldiers, including Amon began streaming through the side doors. A few more seconds and we would be surrounded. Korra yelled at me to get onto Naga's back.

"She can't carry the four of us. I'll make my own way back." I said, backing up slowly and trying to think of an escape plan. I spotted an alleyway to my right and decided to test my luck.

"Are you crazy?! Get on!" Korra screamed.

"Quit being stubborn and go! I know the streets. I'll be fine. Just go!" I said.

"I'm not leaving you out here." Mako said, jumping off of Naga's back. "Korra get Bolin back to Air Temple Island."

Korra groaned in frustration and reluctantly took off with Bolin. Mako and I watched on as the Equalists began to surround us. I looked at him.

"So, any ideas on how we're getting out of this?" Mako asked.

"Didn't think that far ahead," I admitted. Mako glanced at me and frowned.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope! I'm more of a plan it on the fly kind of guy anyway!" I said.

"Well, _Mr. Plan it on the fly_, you've got about ten seconds to come up with something or I will." Mako said.

I looked around frantically and counted the number of Equalists that were closing in on us. There were seven of them.

Way too many of us to take down by ourselves.

"Got it! On three. Side Alley to the right. You take the left turn I take the right. Meet up at Republic Avenue close to Kwong's. One, two, three!" I sent out the hardest gust of wind I could muster while Mako used his Firebending to create a ring of Fire. While the Equalists were dazed, we both managed to slip into the nearby alleyway and go our separate ways, running off into the night.


	5. V

**Chapter V**

**REPUBLIC CITY**

**170 AG**

* * *

My heart was pounding through my chest as I sprinted into a nearby alleyway a few feet away from where Mako and I had gotten surrounded. All I could think about at that moment was the mess the two of us had gotten ourselves into and how I was going to get myself out of it.

Just a few minutes earlier, we had seen what Amon had done to Lightning Bolt Zolt and what he had almost done to Bolin. After seeing that, there was no way in hell I was going to let those guys grab me and I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around long enough for them to try.

Running into the alleyway as fast and as hard as my legs could take me, I jumped over a trash can that was strewn haphazardly across my path and spotted a chain-link fence in the distance. It seemed just low enough for me to climb over and make my escape, but high enough that it would buy me a few seconds to get away from Amon's goons. I had no idea where the fence led to, but that was the last thing on my mind. With every second that passed, I could hear their footsteps behind me getting closer and closer, and if I hesitated for even a second-

Well, I didn't want to think about that.

Reaching the fence and using the momentum I had built up from running, I jumped as high as I could and grabbed for the railing at the top, but just as I was about to pull myself up and over the fence, I felt something wrap around one of my ankles and pull me straight down to the floor. I fell to the ground with a hard_ thud_ and groaned loudly as I landed awkwardly on my back.

I tried to shake off the pain as quickly as I could and reached for_ whatever_ it was that was wrapped around my ankles, but as I began to untangle myself, a hard kick to the chest stopped me dead in my tracks and completely knocked the wind out of me.

I wheezed loudly and lay still for a moment, trying to catch my breath, but before I was given a chance to recover, I was hoisted up by someone and dragged away from the chain link fence.

"Don't struggle," The male voice whispered into my ear as he put me in a headlock. Ignoring him, I did the exact opposite of what he'd told me to do and began to struggle like my life depended on it.

Which, technically, it kinda did.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Takeo, why on _earth_ would you not listen to someone that has their arms around your neck? The sensible thing to do would've been to listen to him and cooperate, right?

Wrong.

Reacting quickly, I raised my right elbow and hit him as hard as I could in a very _sensitive_ area.

"Ah!" He yelled, keeling over in pain and letting me go.

Seeing that I had a chance to finally make my escape, I began running in the opposite direction and headed for the entrance of the alleyway where I came from, but as I turned the corner I was slammed into a wall and dragged back inside once again. Still dazed from being slammed head-first into a brick wall, I wondered how the first guy had caught up to me so easily after I'd hit him in the nads', but then I realized something.

It was a _different_ guy.

How could I have been so stupid? I'd heard _multiple_ footsteps behind me earlier, and I hadn't even thought to look out for the other guy!

"I think it's time we had a little chat," The other man said as he tied my hands behind my back and sat me against a wall. Like the first guy that had grabbed me, the voice was also male. However, he spoke with an accent that I had never heard before. He certainly wasn't from Republic City.

"I don't want any trouble, okay? Just let me go," I said, pleading with him. The rough texture of the rope he'd tied my hands with was digging into my wrists, making me even more agitated than I already was.

"Not yet," He replied, before stooping down so that he was face to face with me. I kicked out at him, a gust of air leaving the base of my foot, but somehow he had managed to dodge my attack.

"Another Airbender," He said. "Interesting."

I kicked out at him once again, but this time he grabbed me by the neck, immobilizing me.

"Do that again, and I'll break both of your legs," He said. His voice was threateningly low.

I glared at him for a moment and he stared right back, not once breaking his focus or looking away. There was something eerie about the way the glowing red eyes of the mask stared back at me. He was wearing the same uniform that the Equalists were wearing back at the arena, but for some reason, something about him seemed...off.

"You don't scare me," I replied. The Equalist laughed, and before I could register what was going on, he grabbed me by the collar and held a blade to my neck. My breath hitched in my throat, and for the second time that night, I was genuinely terrified for my life.

"I'm not the one you should be afraid of," He said, holding the knife dangerously close to my neck. I lifted my neck as far away from the blade as I possible could.

"Why don't you take me to him? " I asked, just about choking the words out. I was doing my best to hold it together, but as the time went by, it was getting harder and harder. "Just do yourself a favor and rid the world of another bender like Amon wants,"

"And what makes you think our allegiance is to _Amon_?" He asked. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked at the man. What kind of question was that? They were _Equalists_ for spirits sake!

"You guys are Equalists!" I said, also stealing a glance at the other Equalist who had attacked me. "Of course your allegiance is to Amon!"

Instead of replying, the masked man looked at me, clasped his hands together and created a small sphere of air between his palms. At this point, if my eyes could have popped out of my skull, they would have.

"When you base your expectations only on what you see, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality," He said.

"A new reality?! Who are you-" I began, but before I could finish my sentence, everything faded to black.

_**-0-**_

_*Chirp Chirp*_

_*Chirp Chirp*_

_*Chirp Chirp*_

I exhaled deeply as I began to register the sounds around me. Before opening my eyes, the very first thing that caught my attention was the faint metallic taste in my mouth and on my lips. The second thing that had caught my attention was how _sore_ I was. I lay still for a moment and then opened my eyes, immediately squinting at the sun that was now shining in my face-

Hold on.

The _sun_?

I sat up quickly and took in my surroundings. My heart dropped at the realization that I didn't make it back home the night before, and to make matters worse, I had somehow ended up in the _Republic City Park._

Grass? Check.

Ridiculously large pond with Turtle Ducks in it? Check.

Sign at the entrance that: _Republic City Park: Home of the Soft-Shelled Turtle Ducks_? Check.

Yep, I was definitely at the park, and how I ended up there was a mystery in itself.

"Universe, you've got a lot of explaining to do," I muttered. The last thing I remembered was getting attacked by those two Equalists that had followed me into that alleyway. I couldn't remember anything after that. Taking a deep breath, I focused on trying to piece together what_ exactly_ had happened the night before.

After sneaking off of Air Temple Island with Korra and (a very irritated) Mako, we ended up at a shady bar.

After we ended up at said bar, we somehow managed to get into an Equalist Rally. I shook my head at that one.

_Okay, Takeo, what happened after that?_ I thought.

We saw that psychopath, Amon, take away Lightning Bolt Zolt's bending.

There was an explosion.

Through the chaos, we managed to find Bolin. How we pulled that one off, I had no idea.

Korra and Bolin left on Naga while Mako and I stayed behind-

Wait.

Korra. Bolin and Mako.

Did the two of them get back to the island? What about Mako? Did he make it back? My mind began to race. What if they hadn't gotten back? What if something had happened to them too? What if the Equalists had gotten to Korra? To Mako-

_Calm down, Takeo_. I thought. _Breathe. For all you know, they're back at the island safe and sound. Now's not the time to freak out. Leave that for later._

Alright, what happened after that?

Mako and I split up and I got cornered by two Equalists who roughed me up pretty badly. One of the Equalists _airbended_ in front of me and also said something extremely vague and cryptic, which was honestly making me question my sanity.

I took another deep breath and counted to ten. The first thing I needed to do was get back to the Island as soon as possible. I could figure out the rest after that. I stood up slowly, and groaned at the pain that immediately washed over me.

Everything hurt. My back, my face, my legs. Even parts of me that I didn't even know _existed_ hurt.

"I'm not leaving my bed for a week when I get back," I said, as I did my best to stretch my aching limbs.

Spotting a nearby park bench, I took a seat on it and proceeded to plan out how I was getting back home. Air Temple was a solid thirty minute bus ride from the park. It was even longer by train, but if I wasn't mistaken, I probably had just enough money for the bus fare. I stuck my hand in one of the front pockets of my jacket, searching for the leftover change I usually kept there, but my face quickly fell as I realized that they were _empty._

"No, no, no..." I said as I checked my pockets frantically.

Of _course_ someone had robbed me while I was out. What else had I expected from this shithole of a city? I checked my pockets once more for good measure, even going as far as to check my pants, but again, I came up with nothing.

So, that was Plan A out of the window. There was no way I was catching a train or even a taxi back home with no money. It was going to be a long walk back to Air Temple Island.

"You new here?" Said a voice from the bush next to me. Startled, I jumped off of the bench and held my fists up in the air. I was an absolute mess, both physically and mentally, but there was no way I was going to get the snot beaten out of me on this fine morning.

Peaceful Air Nomad teachings be damned.

"Who's there?" I said, trying to get a better look at whoever it was behind the bush. I shuffled a few steps and peered behind the bush, but frowned when I realized that nobody was there.

"Okay, Takeo, first a Airbending Equalist and now a talking bush," I said. At this point, I was definitely starting to question my sanity. I needed to come up with a plan and get back to the island. Fast.

Seeing that there wasn't anybody there, I closed my eyes and sat in the meditative lotus position that Tenzin had taught me weeks before. If I was going to get myself back to the island in one piece, I needed to refocus both myself and the energy I was putting out into the universe.

I closed my eyes and I thought back to Tenzin's meditation sessions with Korra and I. Now, what would he always say whenever he wanted us to focus?

_If I had any hair I'd pull it out._

Wait, no, that wasn't it.

That was usually reserved for Korra when she'd get annoyed at not being able to Airbend. Her irritation usually followed with something or someone going up in flames. I tried again.

_Close your eyes and center yourself. Feel your element around you and free your mind. Be like the wind and-_

"You didn't answer my question," I opened my eyes and found myself staring face to face with a man that was sitting way too close to me.

"Gah!" I yelled as I hastily scrambled away from him. Where did he _come_ from?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle ya!" He said. "I'm just very protective of my home these days. Can't have people getting too close, you know,"

I stared at the man and wondered what on earth he was talking about.

"Your home?" I asked, looking around the park for any sign of a tent or something that remotely resembled a home.

"Why, this here foliage," He said, patting the leaves of the bush next to him. "Ain't she a beauty?"

"Uh, sure?" I replied, trying to figure out where this conversation was heading. The man gazed lovingly at the bush and nodded his head in agreement.

"So, you live in that bush?" I asked, trying to figure out how a grown man could fit in a bush the size of Meelo. The man chuckled in response.

"Funnily enough, you're not the first person to ask me that question!" He said. "But yes, this bush is where I currently reside,"

"Right," I said.

That was definitely my cue to leave.

The bushman stood up and then extended his hand. I looked at him hesitantly and sat there for a moment. Now, I didn't have anything against strange bush people, but I figured that there was no harm in being extra cautious, especially after the night I had just had. Eventually, I took his hand, and lifted myself up, all while trying to suppress another groan at the sudden movement.

"Rough night?" The man asked, surprising me with his concern. It wasn't often you got that from a stranger in the big city.

"You have no idea," I replied, but as soon as the words left my mouth, an idea of how to get back home popped in my head. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know a shortcut to the Yue Bay docks, would you?"

"Hmmm," He said, putting his hand on his chin and stroking his scraggly beard. "You'll have to cut through the Downtown District, make a left on Kuei Avenue and follow the road. It should get ya' there within an hour or so,"

I nodded my head and repeated his instructions to myself. Was I a little crazy for trusting a man that had jumped out of a bush? Probably, but at that point, I was desperate to get home.

"Thank you for your help, uh," I said, trying to remember if he had told me his name. "I don't think I caught your name,"

"The name's Gommu! Good luck, stranger!" He said, hopping back into the bush and disappearing. I smiled to myself and headed towards the park's gates. The day had started off a little rough, but it seemed like things were looking up. I walked towards the park gates and headed towards the Downtown District like Gommu had instructed, but just as I was about to turn onto the main road, I felt the all too familiar sensation of cold metal locking against my wrists and my hands being forced behind my back.

"You're under arrest," The officer said, holding my already sore arms behind my back.

"What?! What did I do?!" I asked, wondering what I could have_ possibly_ done. I was bruised, bloodied and I'd just had the worst night of my life. Even if I had wanted to commit a crime, there was no way my body, in its current state, would've even allowed it.

"You're under arrest for the aiding and abetting of a known terrorist organization here in Republic City." The officer replied, leading me towards a police van just outside of the park.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me,"

**-0-**

**REPUBLIC CITY POLICE HEADQUARTERS**

This had to have been a new personal record.

When I rolled with the triads, I was no stranger to being arrested on a pretty consistent basis, but to get arrested literally _weeks_ after being warned by Chief Beifong to stay out of trouble? That was a new low.

I shook my head in disbelief and sighed loudly. There was no way this was happening. Those assholes kicked my ass, dragged me into an alleyway, dumped me in a park, and now I was being accused of helping them?

The Universe really hated my guts, didn't it?

I looked at the familiar blank walls of the holding room and sighed at the fact that I was here, _again_. I had no idea how I was getting out of this one. My boyish charm could only take me so far and it seemed like my luck was finally starting to run out.

"Well, well, look what the catgator dragged in," A man said as he walked through the door. I looked over at the door and immediately frowned at the person that stood there.

Saikhan.

The city's Deputy Police Chief, Beifong's second in charge and an all around asshole. The two of us had a bit of history. I didn't like him, and he sure as hell didn't like me.

"I can't say that I'm too surprised, _Takeo_. I figured it would only be a matter of time before you ended up back here. You Triad thugs aren't good at staying out of trouble," He said, striking a nerve. I _hated _the way he said my name.

"I'm not a Triad anymore," I said, doing my best to keep calm. Saikhan smiled and shook his head.

"Once a Triad, always a Triad, in my eyes," He replied.

"Once an asshole, always an asshole," I muttered under my breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked sarcastically, putting a hand to his ear.

"Nothing," I replied.

"So, do you want to tell me what you were doing at an Equalist rally last night?" He asked, sitting in the chair directly across from me. As he sat down, the first thing I had noticed was how much hair he had lost since the last time I'd seen him. The little bit of hair he had left was just hanging there.

_Just shave it off, dude. Stop fighting it._ I thought. I looked at Saikhan who was now staring at me as if he was waiting for an answer.

Oh, right, I was supposed to be answering his question.

"A friend of mine got kidnapped by a couple of Equalists," I replied. "We went to go find him,"

"And how do you explain being seen with two Equalists? An eyewitness recalled you being seen with them in an alleyway on Jiseng Avenue and First. Is there anything you want to confess?" He said, looking me straight in the eye.

"Did your eyewitness conveniently forget to mention that those Equalists beat the_ shit_ out of me?" I asked, incredulously. Was this guy for real? If I looked the way I felt, then it had to have been obvious who the victim was here.

"There must've been a reason they attacked you the way they did. Double crossed them, maybe? You've been known to exhibit that kind of behaviour," He said, referring to an incident that had occured months before I had met Korra.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" I said, raising my voice a bit higher than I had intended. I was starting to get frustrated. He was deliberately tugging at all the wrong strings and I was falling for his games. "Where's Chief Beifong? I want to talk to her."

"Chief Beifong isn't in until later today," He replied. "Now, answer the question. Why did they attack you?"

"You're asking me, a _bender,_ why a bunch of _anti-bending_ lunatics attacked me? Come on, Saikhan, I'd like to think you're smarter than that," I said sarcastically. Saikhan frowned, slammed his handcuffs on his desk and grabbed me by my collar.

"That's Deputy Chief Saikhan to you, you little shit," He snarled. "Your little innocent schtick may have gotten you this far, but it ends here. After I'm done with you, you're not going to be seeing the outside of a jail cell for a long time," He threatened.

Defiantly, I stared him straight in the eyes, but moments later the sound of a commotion outside distracted the both of us. This showdown between Saikhan and I was going to have to wait.

"You have no right to keep him here! Tell them to open the doors, Lin." A muffled voice said from outside. That sounded like Tenzin! Oh man, did he sound _pissed! _Seconds later, the door to the small room slid open and both Chief Beifong and Tenzin walked inside. My eyes lit up and a huge grin spread across my face.

Maybe the Universe did have my back after all.

"Tenzin? Chief? Man, am I glad to see you guys!" I said, as they walked in. I looked at Saikhan with a shit eating grin, and he glared at me in response.

"Takeo! Oh, thank goodness you're alright," Tenzin said, before turning to Saikhan."Uncuff him, now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that sir. He's a prime suspect that needs to be questioned further," Saikhan replied. His response seemed to infuriate Tenzin as I could see the veins beginning to pop out of his neck.

"Saikhan, if you don't uncuff him at this instant, I will not hesitate to-"

"Can it, Tenzin," Beifong said, shutting Tenzin up. She turned to Saikhan. "Uncuff him, Saikhan. That's an order,"

"But Chief-"

"That's an order," Beifong said again. Saikhan clenched his jaw, but did as he was told, immediately uncuffing me. I rubbed my wrists and shook the soreness out of my hands.

"With all do respect, Chief, he's a prime suspect in this investigation! You can't seriously be considering letting him go," Saikhan argued. It took all my strength not to _sock _him one right in the face. That's how antsy I was feeling.

"If you don't mind, Saikhan, Councilman Tenzin and I would like to speak to Takeo alone," Beifong said.

Saikhan clenched his jaw again, but this time he left the room, wordlessly. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in the chair.

"Okay, out with it," Beifong said to me as she took a seat on the chair that Saikhan had been sitting in. Tenzin stood behind her, and looked at me and I could see the concern etched all over his face.

I didn't look that bad, did I?

"Do you want me to start from the beginning, or…" I trailed off.

"Takeo, what happened? We sent out a search party for you, but when they came back without you, I feared the worst." Tenzin said, finally speaking up.

Hold on, they sent out an _entire_ search party and none of them thought to look in the park? Seriously?

I sighed and recounted the events of the night before. I'd conveniently left out the part about that one Equalist being able to bend because I was convinced that they wouldn't have believed me. Hell, I wasn't sure if I believed myself.

"This is worse than we thought," Tenzin said. "I have to inform the council immediately,"

"Well, kid, your story lines up perfectly with Mako, Bolin and the Avatar's," Beifong said.

"They're okay?" I asked. In the midst of all this commotion, I had completely forgotten to ask about them.

"They're fine." Tenzin replied. "When I received the news that you were here, I had to convince them not to follow me down here,"

I smiled at that. I had really lucked out in the friendship department, hadn't I?

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Now, we launch a formal investigation. In the coming days, I'll be putting together a squad solely focused on taking down this Equalist ring. As for you," She said, looking me directly in the eyes. I had to look away for a moment because her glare was so intense. "No more Equalist rallies. From now on, I want you, the Avatar and your friends to come to me or Tenzin at any sign of trouble. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." I replied.

**-0-**

**AIR TEMPLE ISLAND**

After a few more minutes of talking to Beifong about everything that I had seen at the rally, Tenzin and I eventually took off on Oogi and made our way back to Air Temple Island. Tenzin sat up front manning the reins and I opted to lie down at the back of the saddle and stare into space for awhile. There was so much going on in my head, and truthfully, I was having trouble coming to terms with everything that had happened.

On one hand, I was happy to be back home safe and sound, but on the other, I couldn't help but feel angry at what had transpired. I shouldn't have let myself get captured like that. I should've been able to defend myself against those two men. I was sure that if Korra or even Mako had been in my position, they wouldn't have gone through half of the things that I had. They would've fought and gotten away.

I felt ashamed.

Embarrassed.

Angry.

_Weak._ I needed to learn how to fight because there was no way I was going to let this happen again.

"Takeo?" Tenzin said, interrupting my thoughts. I had been so wrapped up in my own little world that I'd forgotten that anybody else existed.

"Yeah, Tenzin?" I replied.

"We're here," He said, as Oogi landed. I sat up and felt relieved at the familiar sight of the Air Temple's training compound. I had only been gone for less than a day, but it felt like a lifetime.

Tenzin airbended himself off of Oogi and then walked around to the back of the saddle where I was. I was still extremely sore, so getting up after lying down was proving to be a bit of an issue.

"Do you need help?" Tenzin asked.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute," I snapped back from on top of the saddle. I didn't mean to snap at him, I just didn't want anybody helping me as I was more than capable of doing things for myself. Tenzin nodded his head and stood watching me.

After a few more seconds of struggling, I eventually managed to slide down Oogi's tail and make it down to the ground. It hurt, but I wasn't going to let Tenzin know that.

Merely seconds after climbing off of Oogi, I saw Korra jogging towards us in the distance. Tenzin had told me she was okay, but I was glad to see her anyway.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" She said, stopping in front of me. She immediately hugged me, and I hugged her back just as tightly. Well, as tightly as I could anyway.

"I'm glad you're okay too." I replied. "How are Mako and Bolin doing?"

"They're fine. They went home about an hour ago, but they said they'll swing by tomorrow to come see you," She said, letting me go, but as soon as she did, she began staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Takeo, your face," She said, but the look she gave me as she said it made me feel even worse.

"I know, but it's not going to happen again," I said.

"What do you mean?" Korra asked. As we were leaving the police station, I had managed to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, and it wasn't pretty. Seeing myself in that state that I was in, reinforced the idea of getting Tenzin or Korra to teach me how to defend myself, and since I had the both of them here, it was now or never.

"Can I ask you both something?" I said, looking at the two of them.

"Of course," Tenzin replied.

"I need you guys to teach me how to fight. I'm can't let this happen again," I said, with a seriousness to my voice. Korra looked taken aback, but Tenzin frowned and shook his head immediately. I braced myself for an argument. I had read enough of Tenzin's old books to know that fighting offensively was frowned upon by the pacifistic Air Nomads.

"Now, Takeo, I know you're upset but you know that fighting isn't the way we resolve confli-" Tenzin started, but I cut him off immediately.

"Of course I'm upset! Look at my face!" I said, pointing to the large bruise that stretched down the left side of my face. "Look at what those assholes did to me! I couldn't even fight back!"

"Takeo, we get it, but-" Korra said, putting her hand on my shoulder. I shook it off and moved away from her.

"No, you don't get it! You're the_ Avatar_ and you're an _Airbending_ Master. You both have no_ idea_ what it's like!" I yelled. At this point, I was furious and in a fit of rage, I turned around and swung a fist out towards the nearest tree. To my surprise, an enormous, powerful gust of air hit the tree and several branches came toppling down.

Where had_ that_ come from?

I didn't give myself time to think about it because without a second thought, I walked off and made my way to my room, leaving Korra and Tenzin behind.

**-0-**

It didn't take me long to get to my room, but in the condition I was in, it felt like forever. I slammed the door shut behind me and before heading to the bathroom, I took off my jacket and threw it to the ground.

Walking into the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. It was only now that I could actually get a good look at myself, I could see how awful I looked. The entire left side of my face was discolored, my wrists where I had been tied up were a purplish color, and upon taking off my shirt, I could see how bruised my chest was too.

Essentially, I looked how I felt.

Like shit, and it seemed like with every second that I looked at myself in the mirror, I got angrier and angrier.

I was angry at Tenzin for not wanting to teach me how to fight. I was angry at Korra for acting like she understood what I was going through. I was angry at Mako and Bolin for getting me in this mess in the first place. It felt like I was angry at the entire world.

But then, I realized something. Maybe, just maybe, my anger was misplaced. Was I actually mad at them? Or was I mad at the situation? Was my pride getting in the way? I didn't know, but what I did know was that a part of me wanted revenge. I didn't know how or when, but I knew that I was going to make it happen somehow.

After taking a quick shower, I changed into some clean clothes and took a look at the jacket that I had thrown on the ground. It was covered in stains, and there was a huge hole in one of the sleeves.

"Looks like I won't be wearing this ever again," I muttered, picking up the jacket and shaking off all of the dirt on it. As I began shaking it, I heard something drop to the floor, which confused me. I'd checked my pockets earlier that morning and they were empty. I took a look at the ground to see what had fallen, and seeing what it was made me pause for a moment.

It was a red Pai Sho tile. The exact same one I had seen those two men playing with in the bar the night before.

So, I _wasn't_ seeing things. That was good to know.

I picked the tile up and sat down at the foot of my bed, examining it closely. It was a vibrant red, unlike any other colour I had seen on a Pai Sho tile and it had some kind of strange symbol on it. I looked at it closely. It looked like some sort of...flower, but why did it seem so familiar? Where could I have seen this before?

The White Lotus. This was the symbol on their uniform! But why was the symbol on this tile red?

I flipped the tile over and read the inscription on the back.

_3\. Chaos._ It read.

"Three, Chaos? What the hell does that mean?" I muttered.

_Three as in the number three?_ I thought. I read the inscription, again trying to decipher what it meant, but after five more minutes of trying to figure it out, I gave up. I placed the tile on the table next to me and lay down on my pillow before getting ready to take a nap. Spirits knew I needed it.

_*Knock, knock*_

The knocking on the my bedroom door jolted me awake. I lifted my head up off of the pillow and stretched before putting on a T-Shirt I had on thrown on the chair next to my bed. I glanced over at the Lotus Tile that I had placed next to me on the desk and decided to quickly stuff it underneath the mattress. Didn't need whoever it was at the door asking any questions.

"It's open," I said, after putting the T-Shirt on. Moments later, the door opened slowly and Korra poked her head through the small crack. I really couldn't get a moment of peace on this island, could I?

"Hey," I said awkwardly as she walked in.

"Hey," She replied. She took a look around the room and then stepped in. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to the top of the cliff with me. The sunset's supposed to be nice today,"

"Sunset?" I asked. How long had I been asleep?

Korra nodded her head.

"Yeah, you slept through Lunch _and_ Dinner apparently," She replied. I looked out of my bedroom window and realized she was right. I really must've been exhausted.

"So, what'dya say? I'm sure being cooped up in this tiny room all by yourself isn't fun," She said.

"Sure, let me just grab my shoes."

**-0-**

"You weren't kidding about the sunset. The view up here is incredible, " I said, as we reached the top of the cliff. The cliff overlooked Avatar Aang's statue, the city's skyline and the mountains. It really was spectacular.

"Told you," Korra replied.

"How'd you find out about this place anyway?" I asked.

"Gao told me about it the first day we got here," She said, referring to one of the Air Acolytes that worked in the temple grounds. "I like to come up here when I can't sleep or whenever I need to think,"

"What do you think about?" I asked.

"I don't know, life, I guess." She said. I nodded my head, accepting her answer. I could agree with that.

"I thought I had this whole thing planned out," She continued. "I thought I'd come to the city, master Airbending and somehow be the hero like Aang was, but it just seems like I'm constantly screwing up."

"You're doing pretty well in my eyes, considering how much you've got on your plate, I replied. She shook her head.

"I just feel like I should be doing so much more and now there's this crazy anti-bending guy running around." She said, holding her head in her hands for a moment. "As the Avatar, it's my duty to protect people and after that explosion at the Equalist rally I-"

"Korra, there's nothing you could've done to stop that," I said, doing my best to reassure her. "The city's always been like this. It's not your fault,"

"It sure feels like it. Look at what those Equalists did to you. I couldn't even stop that from happening to one of my friends," She said.

"It's not your fault. " I said, again. "Besides, things could've been way worse. I could've ended up like Lightning Bolt Zolt, am I right?" I joked. Korra immediately frowned and I knew that I _screwed _up.

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" She asked.

"Uh-"

"How could _you_ have been so stupid?" She asked. I sat back and took the well deserved tongue lashing. I walked straight into that one.

"Korra, I didn't-"

"Look at you! You could've died! You and Mako should've come back to Air Temple Island with me and Bolin!" She said. It never ceased to amaze me how quickly we were able to descend into an argument.

"Korra, Naga wouldn't have been able to carry the four of us! We had to stay behind!" I said, finally getting a word in.

"We would've figured something out!" She replied. "We could've stayed and fought!"

"No, they would have overpowered the four of us and spirits know what they would've done if they had gotten their hands on you." I said. She softened and looked down at the ground.

"I just-When you didn't come back with Mako, I thought something happened to you. I was so worried, and then seeing you like this, I just-"

"Hey, look at me," I said, getting her to look at me. "I'm okay. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"I have to do something about this. They can't just get away with-" She started. I put a hand on her shoulder and she softened.

"What's done is done," I said. "You've got better things to focus on,"

"No," She said. "I need to put all my energy into defeating Amon and his Equalists and getting this city back to normal,"

I shook my head at that.

"Korra, this city's never been normal. It's always been like this," I said. If I was being honest, the city was getting worse and it felt like things were only going to go downhill from here.

"Well, things are going to have to change," She said. "And I'm gonna start by teaching you how to defend yourself,"

"What?" I said, taken aback.

"You heard me," She said. "Tenzin might not be on board with it just yet, but I'll convince him. This is important."

I looked at her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. I decided to lighten the mood because all this talk about Equalists and fighting was really killing my mood.

"When's the last time you slept?" I asked.

"I didn't get much sleep last night, if that's what you're asking." She replied.

"You should probably get some sleep, then. You look awful," I teased.

"Hey! You look way worse than I do!" She said with a slight smile on her face.

"I know! Do you know how long it's going to take to get my beautiful face back to its normal size?" I joked.

"You're such a dork," She said, but then she paused for a moment and looked at me. "You know, I'm really glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you,"

"I'm like a cat-gator. I'm pretty sure I have like, nine lives," I replied. "It's gonna take a lot to get rid of me,"

"Maybe so, Mister Cat-Gator, but I don't want any of those nine-lives running out," She replied. She took my hand and squeezed it. I looked into her eyes and couldn't help but notice how brilliantly blue they were. I had never noticed it before, but they were a striking contrast to her skin tone. I'd also noticed how whenever she smiled it always reached her eyes no matter what. It was one of my favorite things about her-

Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, _no!_

The unthinkable was happening.

I was falling for the Avatar. This was not good. I needed to change the subject, and fast, so I pretended to yawn.

"Well, I'm pooped," I said, getting up from where we were sitting. "I think it's time for me to hit the sack,"

"You're leaving already? You're gonna miss the best part!" She said, referring to the upcoming sunset. Part of me wanted to stay there with her a little longer, but the rational part of me knew that it would be a lot more trouble than it was worth. I had a good thing going here. I didn't want to screw that up because of some stupid feelings.

"Yeah! I've gotta run. Tenzin said something about us needing to be up bright and early or something! Goodnight!"

I turned around and hastily walked towards the men's dorms.

**-0-**

The next few days had passed by fairly quickly and uneventfully. Mako and Bolin had come by to see how Korra and I were doing, and news had come out about what had happened at the rally. Thankfully nobody was hurt in the explosion, but there were several reports that said that Amon was looking for revenge.

Whatever that meant.

Even though I'd recovered quite a bit, I couldn't help but feel like things were off. I couldn't stop thinking about what that Equalist had said, and to make matters even more complicated, I'd realized that my feelings for a certain Avatar, weren't a one off thing. I'd realized that I had actuallydeveloped a little _crush _on her. I had no idea where those feelings had come from, but I was determined to do away with them as quickly as possible. Complicated feelings were the last thing the_ both_ of us needed right now, especially with things in the city getting worse. She needed to be focused on the city, and I wasn't about to get in the way of that.

At Tenzin's insistence, I'd taken a few days off of Airbending practice. He had been weirdly overprotective lately, and if I had so much as_ breathed_ too heavily, he had been the first person to check up on me. It was a little annoying at first, but I had begun to ppreciate it. I was starting to see him as a sort of Father figure. Something that I had never really had before.

Eventually, I started joining in on the Airbending lessons again and I had noticed that Tenzin had sneakily started incorporating some self-defense manoeuvres as well. I wasn't sure what made him have a change of heart, but I was grateful nonetheless. His change of heart probably had something to do with a certain Avatar putting in a good word for me. That, or she had managed to bug him to the point where he gave in. Both seemed plausible.

As time had progressed, I'd found myself getting through the basic forms a lot quicker than before, not to mention that I felt like I had a lot more over my bending. I'd finally begun to feel the sensation of the air around me, and according to Tenzin, that was another breakthrough. Tenzin had also said that he had seen a noticeable difference in my forms _and_ my bending abilities and even though I was nowhere near the type of fighter that he or Korra was, I had made a lot of progress. It was as if I had finally connected with the element.

After finishing my afternoon meditation, I went into the dining room and took a seat next to Jinora, who had her head down in a book.

"Whatcha' reading?" I asked playfully. She looked up at me and put a bookmark in between the pages. I picked up the book and the first thing I noticed was how _thick _it was.

"It's called Perfection and Immortality. It's about a girl who can turn into a Wolfbat and then she goes around looking for people to eat so that she can stay immortal," She explained.

"Oh," I said. That was a whole lot _more_ than I had expected. When I was her age, I would read stories about the adventures of the Cabbage Merchant and his friendly vegetable companions. Did Tenzin know she was reading these books?

"You know, I always forget that you're only eleven," I said.

"Why, because I read a lot?" She asked.

"Yeah, and because you read books that would probably give Chief Beifong nightmares." I joked. She laughed softly and went back to reading her book. I looked over to the doorway and watched as Meelo ran into the room, followed by his parents, Ikki and Korra who had just returned from her Pro-Bending practice. I stuck my tongue out at him and he returned the gesture.

"Hey you." Korra said, poking me on the arm and taking a seat next to me.

"Hey." I replied. "How was practice?"

"Amazing. Bolin taught me a few more combos today. I'll show you later," She said. Tenzin and Pema sat across from us and Tenzin looked over at me.

"Takeo, if you would be so kind as to say a few words before dinner."

"Of course," I said, closing my eyes. "We are grateful for this time together as a family, for happiness, compassion-"

I didn't get to finish.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Came a voice from the doorway. We all looked up, surprised to see someone interrupting dinnertime. Tenzin hadn't mentioned that we'd be having guests. I looked over at Tenzin who was now scowling. Whoever this guy was, it didn't seem like he and Tenzin were the best of friends.

"This is my home, Tarrlok. We're about to have dinner," Tenzin said standing up quickly and, doing his best to keep calm.

"Good, because I am absolutely famished. Airbenders never turn away a hungry guest, am I right?" The man said smugly. I looked at Korra who shrugged her shoulders and continued eating. Thinking about it, I_ had_ seen this guy before in the papers and he always had that smug grin on his face. T

Tenzin sighed and didn't even bother to answer. He walked over to the table and returned to his seat.

"You must be Avatar Korra. It truly is an honor to meet you. I am Councilman Tarrlok of the Northern WaterTribe." He said, extending his hand out for her to shake it. Korra returned the pleasantries and shook his hand.

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, young man," Tarrlok said, looking at me. "I am honored to meet another Airbender,"

I looked at Tenzin who seemed just as surprised as I was. I had been under the impression that this whole Airbending thing was going to be kept under wraps.

"How do you know I'm an Airbender?" I asked.

"It's my job to know the ins and outs of the city and you, Takeo, along with Avatar Korra, are the talk of the town! You didn't think something as grand as this would be overlooked, did you?" He replied.

"I suppose not," I said, noting that he still hadn't said how he had known that I was an Airbender. I put my chopsticks down and shook his hand, which was oddly clammy. It felt like I was shaking hands with a dead, sweaty fish.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Councilman Tarrlok." I said, as politely as I could muster.

No sooner had the words left my mouth, Ikki then proceeded to somehow interrogate the man and insult him at the same time.

I was so proud.

"Well, aren't you…precocious." He said. "Anyway, I'm actually here to talk about your adventures, Avatar Korra. It was quite some feat infiltrating Amon's rally, if I do say so myself."

"I didn't do it alone. I had help." Korra said, taking a bite of her dumpling. She looked at me and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad that you and your friends did. The city is better off with you here now and I feel safer already!" Tarrlok said with the cheesiest grin on his face. I looked over at Tenzin and caught him rolling his eyes. He was quite expressive for someone with such a stoic demeanor.

I wasn't sure if it was just me, but this Tarrlok guy seemed like he was up to no good. I could smell it from miles away, Tenzin could smell it, hell even Ikki wasn't a fan. Unfortunately for us though, from the grin on her face, I could tell that Korra was totally buying it.

"I think you're the first authority figure that's actually happy I'm here." She said. Tenzin sighed loudly and folded his arms, finally putting an end to their nauseating exchange.

"Enough with the flattery, Tarrlok. What do you want from Korra?" Tenzin said, getting straight to the point. That was something I had admired about Tenzin. He didn't have time for the sweet talk and was willing to call out bullshit when he saw it.

"Patience, Tenzin. I'm getting to that." Tarrlok replied, chiding him like a child. I could see Tenzin going red again. "Avatar Korra, as a token of our gratitude for all you've done in the city, I would be honored if you considered joining my task force,"

_Task force? Does Republic City even have one of those?_ I wondered. _If so, they were doing a pretty lousy job._

"Your task force?" Korra asked. "I didn't know we had one of those in the city,"

"We've just established it. Lin Beifong, our esteemed Chief of Police and I are working to assemble a task force that will strike at the heart of the Equalist revolution and I want you and your friend, Takeo to join me." He replied.

I spluttered on the rice that I was eating at the mention of my name. How'd I get involved in this?

"Sorry." I said, wiping my mouth. Both Korra and Tenzin looked surprised, but Tarrlok continued.

"As you all know by now, Amon has promised revenge. I want to get to him before he has time to do anything else," He said. "I need a team that can help me attack Amon directly. Who better than to have two people on my team that have had first hand experience with Equalists? You're both fearless and not afraid to get the job done, something I believe is best for our beloved city."

This guy was kidding, right? Beloved city, my ass. This city was a dump. Everyone and their mother knew it.

"You want me to join your task force?" She asked, looking like she was mulling it over in her head. After a few moments she put her hands in her lap and shook her head. "No, I can't."

I raised my eyebrows, surprised that she hadn't jumped at the chance to go straight after Amon and his cronies, especially after the conversation we had last night. Judging by the looks on their faces too, I could tell that Tenzin and Tarrlok were thinking the same thing.

"I must admit, I'm rather surprised. I thought you'd jump at the chance to help me lead the charge against Amon." Tarrlok said. You and me both, buddy. This was out of character, even for Korra.

"I came to Republic City to focus on my airbending and finish my Avatar training with Tenzin. I don't have time for distractions. I'm sorry, Tarrlok." Korra replied.

"Which is why this opportunity would be perfect. You would get on the job experience while performing your Avatar duties for the city-" Tarrlok said, still trying to convince Korra to join his task force thing.

"She gave you her answer," Tenzin cut in quickly, which then gave Tarrlok a chance to look at me.

"And you, Takeo? You would be an asset to our team. Not to mention it would be a great opportunity for you to develop both your airbending and combat abilities."

"Absolutely not. He's still recovering from his injuries-" Tenzin said.

"Yes, I heard about that. A shame really. Which is all the more reason why I would be happy to take him under my wing ." Tarrlok replied, cutting Tenzin off.

His reply had struck a nerve. Although Tenzin had started incorporating some self defence techniques into our lessons, it wasn't moving fast enough for my liking. It was the one department I was lacking in. The mental side was there, and now, it was just the physical_ bending_ side that needed fine tuning.I didn't see any harm in getting some extra combat training on the side. I also didn't see any harm in doing a little extra investigation of my own.

Starting with that Red Pai Sho tile and that mysterious _Airbending_ Equalist. Things weren't adding up and I was going to get to the bottom of it and if things went according to plan, I was definitely going to be busy over the next few weeks.

"Alright, Tarrlok. I'll join your task force," I said, scooping a spoonful of rice in my mouth.

"What?!" Tenzin and Korra said at the same time. I could see that little vein popping out of Tenzin's neck again.

"Why not? Can't hurt to try, right?" I replied.

Tarrlok clapped his hands together and stood up from his seat.

"Wonderful! Takeo, I will be in contact with you over the next few days and you, Avatar Korra," He said. "I'm not giving up on you just yet. You'll be hearing from me soon. It has been a pleasure."

I think everyone in the room collectively breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room.

"Takeo, what were you thinking?!" Korra said as soon as Tarrlok left the room. She sounded a little annoyed.

"I would also like to know." Tenzin chimed in, folding his arms.

"I'm thinking that it'll give me a chance to figure out what Tarrlok is really up to and why he's so eager to have you on the task force. You can't tell me you believed all that garbage about him 'wanting the city to be better'." I lied. I was getting pretty good at that. So much so that it was starting to worry me.

Tenzin stroked his beard, a habit I had noticed whenever he was deep in thought.

"Takeo might be onto something here." Tenzin said.

"I am?" I said, not expecting them to buy into my bullshit reason.

"He is?" Korra asked, probably expecting the same thing from Tenzin.

"Yes. I trust Tarrlok as far as I can throw him, so maybe having eyes on the inside might not be a bad idea after all," Tenzin said. A sneaky side to Tenzin? This day was just getting weirder and weirder.

"Yeah, what Tenzin said," I replied, hoping to convince Korra. She continued to frown for a few more moments but eventually, she relented.

"I guess," She said, crossing her arms and looking at me. "Just be careful,"

"I will. Don't worry." I replied.


End file.
